Heirloom Embroidery: Inspired Designer Projects with Beautiful Stitching Techniques

Jan Constantine spent her early career as a successful fashion designer in London before moving to the Cheshire countryside to build a career in interior design and raise two daughters with her husband David. Her homes have been featured in many prestigious magazines and he has appeared on several television makeover programmes. Jan has also worked as a stylist on various advertising campaigns and on magazines such as Italian Vogue and W. In 2002 Jan launched her hand-embroidery business, creating an exquisite range of original designs for textiles and home accessories, hand-worked on high-quality natural cottons, linens, wools and silks. In just a few years it grew from a cottage industry, with friends sewing round her kitchen table, to an established brand selling through its own website (www.janconstantine.com), as well as supplying Harrods, Liberty of London, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and John Lewis in the UK, Bergdorf Goodman in New York, and several independent shops around the world. Jan's first book, Heirloom Embroidery, was published by Jacqui Small in 2008, her second book Love Stitching was published in 2011. Jan has been appointed the official licensee for hand-embroidered textiles by LOCOG for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and is also now licensing her brand to include many different product lines. Her collections now include stationery, china, greetings cards, gift wrap, kitchen textiles, cook ware, scented candles, bed linen and a home ware collection in collaboration with House of Fraser stores.