January 22, 2009
designer caitlin klooger
There is something about handprinted fabric that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's the realisation that a product has not been made on a production line. And that it hasn't been made in a sweat shop. Or loaded onto a shipping container in China. No, designing and printing your own fabric must be something like making the most delicious homecooked meal you can think of. It's an endeavour that seems to be filled with goodwill and love. What a gift to have. And so what a fortunate person Caitlin Klooger is to not only have the ability to design and print her own fabrics, but to have the business acumen to sell them via her website business pippijoe.
Which five words best describe you? Creative, messy, lucky, determined, busy.
What was your first job and what path have you taken since then? When I was about 8 years old I made little elf Christmas decorations from wooden beads and toothpicks which I sold in a local gift shop. I made $10. Since then I’ve studied various design streams including interior design and landscape architecture. I love creating things. I think that textile design links all of my previous incarnations beautifully.
What’s your proudest achievement? Besides my kids, it would have to be getting pippijoe off the ground. It’s amazing to have a creative outlet that is truly my own, where it’s driven by my choices and designs. That fact that it has been received so well has been so empowering for me. I also love that many of my friends have been inspired to create things using my fabric; I just can’t begin to explain how wonderful it is to be part of other people’s creativity.
Who inspires you? People who can fulfil their creative passions while keeping the home fires burning.
What are you passionate about? Creating things! I love to make things from scratch, be it cooking, sewing, crafting or gardening. I generally have a few things on the go at any one time and many things that are never quite finished.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt? Design and make what I like not what I think people like. Then, if no one wants what I create, I’d be happy to keep it.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Florence Broadhurst – strong, creative, mysterious and completely extraordinary if all I’ve read is true…
What’s next? This past year has been so busy, that I now want to take some time to regain the balance in my life so I can be a good mum, wife while still having time to simply be creative. Then, a few designs, a print run… and see what happens.
What are you reading? I love biographies and am currently reading one about Truman Capote and his flamboyant and hedonistic life in the midst of New York arts and society. Such a different world.
Images courtesy of pippijoe