We had a lovely chat with Faye from Little Dove Designs! Let’s see what she’s been up to in the studio!

Hi Faye, thanks for having a chat with us! Let’s get started…

Tell us a little bit about yourself – your background, general day to day life, hobbies (other than crafting).

I live in a small village in east Suffolk with my husband and daughter just a few minutes from the coast. When I’m not working we’re often walking our dog or enjoying some family time. I really enjoy keeping myself fit and active and always make time to do some form of exercise, either a brisk walk or running before I start work.

When and why did you start crafting?

I grew up around sewing and yarn crafts, my mother is a dressmaker who specialised in wedding and occasion wear when I was a child so the house was always full of fabrics and threads growing up. She could also knit and crochet as well as sew and I was always interested in what she was making and wanting her to teach me.

My favourite Christmas present ever was when I was 10 years old and I received one of those square fabric covered sewing boxes full of embroidery threads and some aida fabric. It was accompanied by a Care Bears cross stitch alphabet chart book which I still have to this day. I’ve wanted to be a cross stitch designer ever since!

What was the inspiration for the name ‘Little Dove Designs’?

Unfortunately I have no beautiful story about where the name comes from nor can I give you any personal sentiment behind it… it literally just came to me one day and stuck!

What does your creative process look like when creating your patterns?

It’s evolved a lot over the years with the technology available however it still almost always starts with notes and sketches. Often I will just get an idea and have to put it to paper straight away before then developing it further using software. Thread and fabric shade cards are vital to my creative process and once I’ve got the design finished I will stitch the model so that I can ‘iron out’ any last minute issues with the design.

If you’re feeling a bit stumped when creating, what’s your go to way of getting the cogs turning again?

I take a lot of photos, if I see something I like the colours of, the wording of or the setting of then I will take a quick photo and when I’m feeling a little uninspired I’ll go through my photos to jog my memory and that will hopefully spark an idea.

What designers are you currently loving?

I am a very long standing Nora Corbett/Mirabilia fan and I have a large collection of Nora’s charts going back many years. I still get excited to see what she releases every month! I’ve also recently fallen in love with Long Dog Samplers…….I love Jools Line’s use of monochrome in her designs and her storytelling is really special.

We know you wear many hats throughout the day; can you walk us through what a typical day may look like in your studio?

The first thing I do is get my admin out the way……emails, bills, invoicing, etc. Next I check my order list and get those all put together and packaged up. If there’s any time left I will use that time to check/order materials, post on socials, update the website and plan ahead the designs I want to work on or release next. There are never enough hours in the day really though!

We hear you! What’s your favourite piece you’ve designed so far? We know, it’s a tough question!

Very difficult question! Possibly my most recent design The Moth and the Mushroom. I love Autumn, the seasons are always hugely inspiring and I particularly love working with an autumnal theme.

What are your three essentials for a day of designing?

Tea, shade cards and my notebook.

And finally, do you have any tips for readers developing a passion for crafting?

Find a local craft and chat group if you can, it’s great to spend time crafting with like-minded people and often it’s a good way to get introduced to new crafts that you might not have thought about trying before.

Thanks, Faye! We can’t wait to see what you do next!

You can follow Faye here on Instagram, or head over to her website to find more of her lovely cross stitches, SALs and more! For some of our favourites, be sure to check out our brand focus of Little Dove Designs, too.