I am Birgitte Hendricks http://BirgitteHendricks.com a native Dane, a former RGN nurse and Textile / Fiber Artist, living in Suffolk, England in a beautiful old historic market town with my American husband.
I have been crafting all my life. As a child I was totally fascinated by my mother knitting. I must have been very keen, because at the age of six she gave me a pair of knitting needles, some yarn and taught me to knit. I loved every minute of it and remember feeling very ‘grown up’ sitting there with my short knitting needles and ball of yarn. Then we moved on to crochet. My paternal grandmother taught me to sew and embroider.
Denmark has a very deep crafting tradition and heritage, and I’m very lucky to have had that tradition passed on to me. The area, where I grew up in Denmark, has a very old tradition for a certain type of bobbin lace, Toender lace. At the age of 13-14 I enrolled in a bobbin lace course for mature ladies. I was so afraid, that I was too young to attend the course, and I added a couple of years to my age on the enrollment form. I felt so bad about lying and confessed to my dad, who I remembered lectured me with a smirk. I went on to do bobbin lace for several years, and still now and then revisit the technique. Later came dressmaking, pattern cutting, batik, spinning, natural dyeing, papermaking, basket weaving, quilting and other crafts. From 1999-2005, after moving to England, I was so fortunate to do diploma courses in contemporary quilting, creative hand and machine (free style) embroidery and art and design.
I love exploring and trying out new techniques, as well as revisiting old ones. I have been fascinated by texture, transparency and layering, creating all sorts of surfaces for my work. Applying color to fabric, paper and almost any other imaginable surface is another favorite. Free style machine embroidery is such an exciting technique with endless possibilities and has to be mentioned as well.
Starting points for my work come in different forms. I belong to one exhibiting textile group Fibrefusion http://fibrefusion.org.uk
When creating pieces for exhibitions, I work my way through the design process starting with a design source doing sketching, collages etc, through sampling to finally decide on the appropriate techniques to create the finished piece. A superb process that makes you think and develop your work.
I take a lot of weird design type photos (peeling paint, rusty tiles, stacked logs etc) when out and about, and the photos are often part of my design source. While working on these ‘serious’ projects I get a lot of great ideas, that I jot down. Often these ideas end up as items in my shop http://SewDanish.com
A favorite passion of mine is weaving Scandinavian baskets. I love exploring using all types of recycled paper and non woven fabric. The baskets are based on an old Scandinavian technique that I was taught many moons ago at school. Traditionally the baskets are made from birch bark.
I love hunting at car boot sales/flea markets and secondhand shops. That’s where I find most of my fabrics, maps and other craft supplies. I like to recycle and upcycle giving items a new lease of life. I very rarely buy new fabrics and when, then just white or natural fabric that I can dye. When visiting family in Denmark I always bring back Danish newspapers. My woven bowls made from newspaper I find the interplay between the text and the dots of colors so exciting.
In 2007 I came across Etsy in a magazine. After a lot of research I decided to open my shop SewDanish – Scandinavian Textile Art, Unique Handmade Supplies in 2008. Prior to my Etsy shop some of my products had been sold in shops around Denmark and while living in the US, I had been selling at craft fairs and farmers markets.
The last 10 years I have been doing a lot of yoga, walking and hiking. There is no doubt that especially yoga is helping me staying grounded and focusing my mind, when life gets really busy. I'm a trained RGN nurse and have for 20 years been working in the operating theaters predominantly with open heart surgery. In November 2013 I started a 500hr hatha yoga teacher training through British Wheel of Yoga. I teach several weekly classes at http://nealsyardburystedmunds.co.uk/ as well as privately.
I'm a current member of the following textile groups: Fibrefusion Contemporary Textile Art Group and Sindano and a former member of OutOfTheFold and Advanced Textile Workshop.
