The Team

Russell Thomson

Russell graduated from with a BA in knitwear design from St Martins School of art. He then stayed on to refine his skills with an MA in Fashion Knitwear.
Russel writes: Being at St Martins throughout the eighties was an amazing experience. It truly was and remains a hot bed of the most wonderful personalities featuring the most diverse design talent and experimental attitudes to fashion. We were encouraged throughout the course to work in industry as often as possible. As a result, I worked with Patricia Robberts who’s garments are now held by the V & A Museum. Max Mara in Italy and Wallis UK. I also worked with Duran Duran on costumes for the “Wild Boys” promotion video and also Wham “Freedom” and the Eurythmics “There Must be an Angel”. Having graduated, I went to work with the US designer Ralph Lauren. On returning to the UK, I worked with Next and then Whistles before starting my own Label “Artifice and Guile” which sold to Matches and Liberty in London, Takishamya in Japan and Barney’s USA. There were many other stores both here and abroad that bought the collections and therefore supported me through this time and I will be forever grateful. Early this century I began to work with a design prediction and manufacturing company who sold knitwear to all the major UK high street retailers. Throughout this time (ten years in total) I returned to Saint Martins as “special project” tutor. One day a week in contact with students going through what I had once experienced. I only hope they had as good a time. In 2012 I decided to move from London to Devon and build my own house. I bought a three acre plot of land in the middle of an area of “outstanding natural beauty” and built a very discrete, oak frame “eco house” complete with ground source heat pump and solar energy. I live there with my wonderful husband of 34 years, two of the most adorable dogs ever to have barked and two really quite boring tortoises but we hatched them 23 years ago and therefore feel responsible.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about starting the Yarn Mill. The friends I have teamed up with are very much kindred spirits and the ideas that bounce back and forth are remenicient of being back at Saint Martins. Full circle or what? I met Paul via the tutor of an upholstery class I signed up for when I first arrived in Devon. Wonderful tutor, a true gentleman and one who demanded we use totally traditional methods throughout.I think he, the teacher was expecting me to turn up with a beginners project - a basic stool I intended to cover or maybe a dining chair I wanted to update. To his horror, I turned up with an ornate Art Deco chaise longue (a leaving present from Ralph Lauren) and a luxurious leather hide I wanted to use to reupholster it. No way did he have the equipment at the local village hall for me to realise my dreams. In desperation, he contacted one of his previous students who had gone on to train fully and was working as an upholstery designer / renovator from his studio locally.

Paul turned up, recognised that I was way out of my depth and tutored me through the whole reupholstery process until I was the proud owner of a beautiful chaise longue (in truth, one upon which, he had carried out most of the upholstery) that now features prominently in my home. Realising we had a mutual appreciation all thing Deco, we decided to team up and produce fully restored deco period pieces of furniture featuring hand knitted and felted fabrics reflecting the period.Our pieces have proven very popular and have been snapped up by collectors throughout Europe.

Through Paul, I met his mum Melanie. The most amazing hand knitter to ever to have picked up a pair of needles. Having learnt to knit from her maternal grandmother from the age of five, Melanie has knitted the most intricate, complex pieces ever since. Garments, cushions, blankets, bags and toys for her children, the family dog and the children of loved ones.Together we are Yarn Mill.

Paul Gostling

My Journey to the collaberation that is Yarn Mill really started in 2008. I returned from travelling in Australia during the last recession and was in the position of having to move back to Devon and into my parents home. I had previously worked in Bristol and London as a Facilities and Project Manager but I was in the middle management tier that was disbanded and I was overqualified to drop down a level and not experienced enough too move up. I decided I wanted a change of direction. My dads side of the family have been builders for many generations. I have often helped dad out when needed in temporary way.  We soon realised that anything more permanent would result in us killing each other! 

It was around this time that I found out about an upholstery course being held at my parents local village hall. It wasn’t something that I had really considered or knew much about. I went along and realised it gave me the opportunity work on beautifully crafted pieces of furniture. I loved the fact that I was using traditional techniques that haven’t changed for hundreds of years. I also felt a connection with true craftsman of the past and the knowledge that I was preserving their work for further generations. John the tutor became my mentor. Without John, Yarn Mill simply wouldn’t exist. Through John the opportunity presented itself to do an apprenticeship at a local company based in Bridport. This was not the easiest decision as it involved committing to four years, accepting minimum wage and living at my parents at the age of 28! Over the next four years I completed my apprenticeship and gained my City and Guilds qualifications. After four years the company went under and I took the opportunity to go self employed. I set up a workshop in an old barn on my parents property and started the restoration and recovery of vintage furniture.

As I was working for myself, I went back to the Upholstery classes in Dalwood to help John out as an assistant teacher. This was hopefully a way of saying thank you to him as I owe him my career. It was here I met Russell. During one of the classes, John took me over to meet Russell and uttered the now classic line - “This Gentleman will need your help. He may be being a bit ambitious”. Understatement! As you will read in Russell’s bio, he had an antique Chaise Lounge and wanted to upholster it in leather. Slightly alarming as this was his first upholstery project. Now, leather is a beautiful fabric to work with. It is however very unforgiving. Once you put a hole in it thats it. This is a project I would have considered more than challenging! Anyway the upholstery of the chaise involved me pulling on the leather and getting Russell to hammer in the tacks! Team work.This led to a firm friendship where Russell helped me out with my design and restoration company.

We were looking for ways of interpreting traditional fabrics to use and update the vintage furniture frames we were collecting. It was a felted bag that my mum had knitted that gave us the idea of developing felted knit fabrics to upholster with. This led to our first project which was a 1930s  Art Deco chair we found in a local antique shop. Very much worse for wear, lacking love and showing its age (not at all like Russell). We stripped it down. I restored the bent wood frame and adjustable rocking mechanism while Russell knitted and felted the fabric to be used for the upholstery. The work of 1930s designer Sonia Delauney provided the inspiration for the patterning. Sold through a local independent interiors shop, the chair featured in a leading interiors magazines and quickly sold to a collector and enthusiast. We have completed several commission pieces since then. Through this and watching Russell I decided I needed to learn how to use a knitting machine. I also picked up knitting needles for the first time since I was a child having been taught to knit by my mum.

I haven’t had any formal education in design. At school, I clashed personalities with the tutor who was both my textiles and art teacher. As a result, it was never an avenue I pursued and have regretted this in later in life. 

I am very inspired by the crossover and blending of the skills necessary for upholstery, knit and tailoring. Each require a firm knowledge of how to cut, sew, draught a pattern and “read”  fabric. I cant remember the exact circumstance that led me to getting Russell to teach me to use the knitting machine. I was interested by the mechanics of the knitting machine, how it worked and the structure and mathematical nature of knitted stitches. This is where I got my own back on Russell for the chaise longue incident and decided to attempt to knit a jumper on about lesson 4. Russell’s partner did wonder if Russell was giving up his time so that I could knit myself  a new wardrobe.

Much to Russell’s annoyance I’m not very good at doing tension squares, test swatches or mood boards. I do all of that in my head. As I work alone, I have never had to communicate my ideas to others or “show my workings” but I think that comes from never having studied design in any formal way. Russell tells me that this will have to change as I am now one of a team.

In conjunction with learning to use the knitting machine I got my mum to show me how to develop my hand knitting skills. This allowed me to understand the construction of the stitches. I was taught by mum how to knit basic garter stitch as a child but I hadn't picked up knitting needles in 30 years. My teacher (mum) happens to be the ultimate perfectionist so I ended up undoing and re knitting a lot of stitches to begin with. Due to the tactile nature of upholstery and the minute yet crucial difference between pulling fabric tight not taught during upholstery, I was able to get the tension of my hand knitting fairly consistent. I have also become a member of the local Stitch and Bitch group who meet weekly down the local pub (Mum being the knitting guru). Subsequently I have been knitting baby clothes as they are small enough not to take too long and contain all the stitches and techniques used in an adults jumper (that and my friends kids get a nice present). I am looking forward to the massive learning curve that I have in front of me designing, knitting and upholstering with Yarn Mill and the opportunities that this will bring. 

Melanie Gostling

I absolutely love knitting and my perfect life is when I'm sat with a mug of tea and one of my many projects in my hands! I cannot remember a time when I couldn't knit, my maternal grandmother, (Nanny Mara) taught me when I was 4 or 5 years old and being looked after by her while my mother was at work are some of my earliest memories. She was very talented at all craft work and before we would sit knitting together I had to help her with her paid work which was making the inside linings of ladies handbags. It was my job to glue the raw edges of the silk and satin over the card, a job I enjoyed due mainly to the smell of the glue, today this would never be allowed!! Nanny taught me to follow a pattern and I would knit dollies clothes and then clothes for Sindy and Barbie.
My mother was also an excellent knitter and so I always had someone on hand to help when I made a mistake or dropped stitches which is such a godsend for someone learning. In my late teens and early twenties I was working as a croupier and my knitting went to another level, this fabulous knitting shop opened in Knightbridge - Patricia Roberts! Her patterns and yarns were stunning, when I first met Russell I couldn't believe that he had worked on some of the patterns my mother and I had knitted! Russell has also designed a jumper and cardigan that I still have from Next in the 80's!! I have kept them all these years as they are gorgeous and I still love them! He couldn't believe I still had them and it was great for me to see his original design and artwork. At the casino we would have a series of 20minute breaks throughout the shift and many of us were knitters, it was very incongruous all these glamorous young women in their bunny outfits and evening dresses clicking away! I can't believe how much I achieved during the years working there, knitting patterns by Patricia Roberts, Kaffe Fassett and Edina Ronay. I stopped working when I had children and used to get together with other mums for knitting and sewing sessions. Whoevers house we were in looked after the children, made tea etc while the others sat and crafted - the days before mums worked and the children went to pre school and nurseries!

I have knitted for all my nieces and nephews and just recently my great niece wore a cardigan that I originally knitted for her Auntie about 37 years ago, it's been passed back and forth and she is the 7th child to wear this item!!
Thirty years ago my sons were 4 and 8 we made the decision to move out of London for a slower pace of life. We bought at auction a near derelict old mill house and when I look back on it I don't know how we managed to achieve what we did. Paul and Joel had an idyllic childhood and didn't notice they were living in a building site for many years! Paul always had a leaning to being more artistic and practical than Joel and at a young age asked me to teach him to knit, he was keen to start with and did learn but it has only been in recent years that he picked up his needles again and this time round he has really taken to it and I'm immensely proud of him!
Through Paul I have become good friends with Russell and he has inspired me so much. I cannot believe how clever Russell is at designing knitwear, I can follow any pattern but how he designs and makes a pattern are beyond me! It is so lovely to work together with Paul and Russell, I feel very honoured to be part of this exciting project!