Meet crafting champion Kirstie Allsopp
Presenter and craft enthusiast Kirstie Allsopp talks to Camilla Davies about her life, career highlights and her passion for crafting
For Kirstie Allsopp: property consultant, presenter and craft enthusiast, a love of handmade, beautiful homewares comes naturally. After all, she grew up in the village of Inkpen in Wiltshire, with a mother who was a picture framer and a father who worked as Chairman of Christies Auctioneers for over 40 years. Telling All About You that her love of crafting 'has been a lifelong thing', Kirstie has continued the Allsopp tradition of reusing, recycling and regeneration, and is now taking it to the next level with her Handmade Fair event.
Shes extremely excited about the Fair, at Hampton Court Palace. 'I loved the thought of doing something so different to other craft fairs out there, putting learning at the core and celebrating so many talented people. Sharing the whole experience with others who love making,' she says. 'It isnt just about a whole lot of shops in a tent. This is a gathering of the people youve seen with me on screen, answering your questions, teaching you their techniques, in front of a live audience. Its 3D TV without the funny specs!'
The Honourable Kirstie Allsopp didnt follow a traditional career path. She attended 10 different schools before teaching English in India rather than going to university. She was a homeowner at 21, and at 25 she set up exclusive property search company Kirmir with her best friend.
Kirsties big TV break came on 'Location, Location, Location' with her on-screen husband, Phil Spencer. She has since been the face of countless television series, written four books, and introduced her own collections of home products with Ashley Wilde and Marks & Spencer. Her property programmes may have launched her empire (she now has her own production company), but handmade crafts have always been her passion. 'Making things has been in my family for as long as I can remember,' she says, reflecting back on a childhood full of DIY interiors.
'When I was little, I was obsessed with the look of my bedroom, and I had a dressing table full of bits I collected and made,' she says. 'For my twelth birthday my mum transformed my bed into a four-poster with white fabric, green bows and a pink trim
then we moved house and my mum made the curtains of my beautiful bed into blinds for my new room, because I moved into the attic!'
Today, Kirstie and partner Ben Anderson love to customise their family homes in Notting Hill and Devon. With Meadowgate, the couple took on the challenge of renovating an unused house (and the subject of 'Kirsties Homemade Home'), spending £150,000 and relying on a local skilled workforce.
'My house in Devon was a huge project,' Kirstie admits. 'It had been empty for almost four decades and I wanted to focus on the skills of local tradesmen; from blacksmiths and glassblowers to upholsterers and carpenters.' The project 'reinvigorated my passion for the handmade and the homemade', as Kirstie puts it.
Kirstie loves working on crafts with her family. But as a busy working mother, her spare time for crafting is a luxury. 'I do get to make a lot when Im filming the shows, which is a brilliant fix,' she says. Just like everybody else, Kirstie has a collection of works-in-progress stashed about her house. 'Doesnt everyone start things and never finish?!' she laughs. 'My lifes ambition is to make my own quilt from start to finish...'
Kirstie also points out that while homemade crafts adorn her houses, some of those pieces arrived as gifts from her fellow crafters. 'I was given the most amazing boat bunting gift recently by two little girls, which I hung in Devon. Ive asked the girls to come up with an idea for Christmas bunting, a new spin on their amazing boats.'
When Kirstie isnt sprucing up her Devon abode, filming, or busy with the kids, youll often find her working on her pom-poms. 'Theyre fast, simple, and instantly gratifying.' In fact, at her Homemade Fair, she is asking visitors to help with World Pomination, a record-breaking attempt. Living with four small boys, youd imagine pom-poms arent in such high demand in the Allsopp household. Unperturbed, Kirstie reels off their endless uses. 'You can do so much with them!' she says. 'Bunting, tree decorations, adorn your cushions with them, put them on clothes, on shoes...'
From pompoms to bunting to carpentry, Kirstie stands by her tried and tested philosophy: 'Everyone has a craft they can do,' she encourages, 'you just need to find yours!'
Kirstie Allsopps Handmade Fair takes place at Hampton Court Palace on September 19-21 2014
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