Hi, my name is Kar-Ling. I initially started Makergardener as I love making things and gardening. Starting a family also made it happen, as I suddenly found time to do something I had always wanted to do. We have a 90-square-foot garden, so I had started growing. Initially, edibles, then dye plants. I sew as well,l I have always been from a young age, as I watched my mum sewing and crafting.
I am mostly based in London with my family, but we also have a home in Italy, where we go to during the school holidays. I like being in London as it is a vibrant and exciting city. The house in Italy is in the countryside of Liguria, where I grow lots of edible and dye plants. It started as a blog about dressmaking, fabric dyeing, printing, growing edibles, dye plants and recipes. Now I only want to focus on my creative work as it’s close to my heart.
Being outdoors, gardening, dyeing and printing is my happiest place to be.
I love colours created by nature as it’s subtle and blend well. Coming from a science background (I am an operating room nurse by profession) I love the chemistry of using natural dyes, and how I can create different tones from just one dye plant. Natural dyes are living colours that change with light some that synthetic dyes will never do. A few years ago, when I started natural dyeing, I wanted to create patterns using natural dyes and tannins. That’s how I ended up with natural printing. I hope to explore more of the printing using natural dyes.
I used a lot of different types of fabrics and paper in my work. Some are vintage, dead stock, upcycled, organic, low-impact fibres, as well as new. Everything is proudly sewn and designed by me in London. Here is a link to my current shop here. Do contact me at info@makergardener.com for custom-made items and collaborations.
Thank you very much for reading and dropping by.
