Hello!

Hi, I’m David, and I’m the face behind True Colours Craft.

I started weaving in the summer of 2020 – yes, weaving was my lockdown hobby. Whilst everyone else was perfecting their banana bread or manicuring their garden to perfection, I was getting to grips with the complex world (and terminology) of warps and wefts.

And like most craft obsessions, it pretty much all spiralled from there. Soon I was making more scarves, table runners and blankets than I could give away, and one thing led to another, and here we are!

Along the way I’ve picked up all sorts of related textile skills, like spinning, dyeing, felting – most of which you’ll find scattered throughout the products available in the Shop, but weaving will always be my first love. And it’s a love that I hope I can share with you, whether that’s through the things I make or the classes I teach.

Why “True Colours Craft”?

There’s a short answer to this and a long answer.

The short answer…

…is that my goal throughout everything I do here is to enable you to express yourself. That might mean finding glad rags in the colours of the Pride flag(s) that you identify with, or it might be that you want your home furnishings to be as bold and impactful as you are. Or perhaps you’re looking for ways to integrate traditional craftsmanship into your personal style, or simply looking for an alternative to fast fashion.

Whatever you’re trying to express, I hope you find something here that can help you show your true colours. And if you cant, drop me a line, and we’ll see what we can do to fix that!

The long answer…

…is harder to put into words, because there’s all sorts of (overlapping) ways to be ‘true’…

True to the community

As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, an important part of that is creating products and art that appeal to my brothers, sisters and siblings in the community. And when you buy something from me, you can be confident that the proceeds are going to an LGBTQ-run business, rather than some anonymous corporation for whom we are just another target demographic.

True to tradition

But there’s more to it than that, just as there’s more to me than my identity. It’s not just about who you are, but also how you want to live. I love doing what I do because it is rooted in probably one of the oldest crafts that humans have ever practiced. The equipment may have evolved in complexity and potential, but the basic practice of putting one thread over another hasn’t changed. Even as I create new designs and patterns, I know that everything I do is built on everything that has come before.

True to the planet

And those traditional practices are usually more sustainable than modern textile practices. If you’ve found your way to my page, the odds are that you’re already aware of the negative impacts of fast fashion. Well, the fashion available here is anything but fast! What’s more, I make a point of trying to find a use for every single by-product of my weaving and spinning. Do I have all the answers? Certainly not, but I’m always looking for ways to improve and to make my work more sustainable.

True to curiosity

All of which feeds into my overall aim of travelling with curiosity. (I tried being bored once in 2001 and decided it wasn’t really for me.) I love to learn new things and expand my knowledge and skills in the things I already do. There’s always room to improve if you’re open to seeing it, and that’s the attitude I try to bring to every situation – that’s how I stay true to myself.