Helen Chatterton Textiles

Helen Chatterton textiles has two distinct collections. The collection on Handmade Online is the City on Cloth collection of silk map scarves.

The collection was launched in 2012 at Handmade in Britain’s Spring Show at the Oxo Galleries in London. It started with cotton lawn maps of London, using a 1929 Street Atlas of London which was digitally printed, then made up into long scarves backed with linen.

By popular demand the collection developed quickly and now consists of silk squares, in various sizes and has grown from London to UK cities including Liverpool, Cambridge, and international cities including Berlin, New York, Rome. Helen has done special commission scarves for British Museum, Museum of London and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

The artwork is done by Helen then the silk is digitally printed in Macclesfield where the scarves are machine finished.

Helen’s collection of Harris Tweed scarves was launched in 2008, starting with the Tweed and Velvet scarves. They are made from Harris which is available only from the remote islands of the Outer Hebrides. Each piece of Harris Tweed comes from the mills on Harris and some from individual weavers in crofts. Only tweed purchased on the islands is allowed to bear the now iconic Harris Tweed label. Helen backs her larger Harris Tweed scarves with beautiful lush silk velvets in stunning combinations. The skinny scarves are backed with Liberty Tana Lawn cotton, often mistaken by people for silk. Again the pairing of the fabrics produces a beautiful scarf, the softer cottons and velvets being able to be worn against the neck for the less hardy! The Harris Tweed range has proved extremely popular and Helen has undertaken commissions for galleries including the Tate, London, National Galleries of Scotland and she makes a bespoke range for the British Museum.