Defashion Dorset

23/08/2026

Still time to take part in our Community Fashion Show if you’re a designer, upcycler or model, email [email protected]

27/05/2026

27/05/2026

Meet the Makers
The Makers and Shakers of Wimborne, Craftivism group.

Craftivism is a blend of ‘craft’ and
‘activism’ and uses handmade crafts to campaign for change. It’s described as ‘gentle protest’ in contrast to the loud, confrontational methods of mainstream campaigning.

Glyphosate Fact - What is glyphosate? It’s a chemical that kills some micro-organisms and almost all green plants on contact. It does this by blocking the growth enzymes and is highly potent, killing within 1 - 3 weeks.
Why the campaign? Because of the mounting scientific evidence of the harm glyphosate weedkiller causes to microbes and animals, as well as to the plants it’s applied to.

Glyphosate kills more than weeds! It can affect bees and other pollinators, soil biodiversity as well as affecting human health and it’s been reported that strains of weeds are becoming resistant to glyphosate. So we really do need to stop using it!

display is at Hawkers Farm, Venue 14 of until Sun 31st.
Tickets for Defashion Dorset are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

27/05/2026

Meet the Stallholders:
for fabulous, one of a kind, vintage clothing and for all your haberdashery needs as well as preloved clothing, fabric and curiosities.

Tickets are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

25/05/2026

Hear from our founder Jennifer Morisetti about the importance of and why in 2026 it is as important as ever to bring together local producers and makers.

Tickets are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

24/05/2026

Meet the Makers
Gaby and Christoph, Rails Farm near Sherborne:
“Our nine acre smallholding Rails Farm is located in Holwell. Our journey, to become self sufficient and ecologically sustainable started in summer 2013. We grow fruit and vegetables, harvest our planted trees for fire wood, and have two geese sisters, sheep, alpacas and bees. A rain water harvesting system supplies water to our fields, a poly tunnel, our domestic washing machine and toilet. We currently have nineteen Shetland sheep and four alpacas.
All our produce is grown along organic principles. Our fruit, vegetables and hay have not been in contact with any artificial fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. We produce our fertiliser from our own organic material.

If we want resilient food systems, we need to support small-scale, soil-focused farming that works with water, stores carbon, and treats weather not as an inconvenience, but as something we must learn to live with wisely. Our Products
Knitting kits - a Seafoam pattern scarf, and a pair of socks.
Double knit yarn in natural grey and natural cream spun by the Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall. For the first time we’ll send alpaca fleeces to the East Anglian mill to create 100% double knit alpaca yarn.
Felted sheepskins. This means that you can have a ‘sheepskin’ rug or throw while the sheep remains happy and healthy. To do this one takes the fleece, turns it on the backside and felt in carded wool instead of the skin of the animal. A layer of wool is carded first. Then with lots of water, dishwasher liquid and rubbing, the carded wool is linked with the fleece. This process is called wet felting. The end product is lovely and the sheep is still cheerily grazing on the meadow.

Tickets are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

22/05/2026

Meet the Maker
Kat Bazeley of Blue Barn Life.
Hand made clothing for men and women crafted in Dorset.

Sara Arnold of
“Special recognition must be given to BlueBarn.Life. We visited Kat Bazeley, Sarah and Joss at School House Farm where they work together creating earth friendly garments inspired by traditional workwear and historical costume. Their model is simple: they upcycle old materials they find from diverse sources and mix this with beautiful Irish linen; they make together convivially on the farm (meet the makers here) crafting to the highest quality. You buy their ready-made garments made in small batches or they can create bespoke. Here are the beginnings of a unique style that belongs in the landscape of Dorset, specifically where BlueBarn.Life is located – an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscapes).

Local clothing culture also requires a local vernacular, and considering indigenous cultures in England have been almost totally eroded by industrialisation, we have to dig to reconnect with ancestral knowledge and we have to be innovative and creative in reviving a collective sense of identity, dictated by place and community rather than the whims of big fashion. This will be a long process, emerging as it will.

Tickets are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

22/05/2026

Meet the Makers
Jane E Hall of Cloth of Nature

“Renowned for her naturalistic hand-embroidered artwork inspired by nature, Jane has earned wide acclaim. Her pieces have been extensively exhibited and include notable public commissions. She has published three books dedicated to her artwork and creative philosophy and has delivered lectures to diverse audiences across the UK and internationally. Her work has also been featured on television, in magazines, and in periodicals. Based in her countryside studio, surrounded by a thriving wildlife habitat, Jane continues to explore the intersections of art, nature conservation, health, and wellbeing.

Cloth of Bark:
Drawn from woodland textures, nests, lichens, moths, mosses and the shifting surface of trees, Cloth of Bark emerged slowly through gathered fragments, stitch, fibre and imagination.
This May, it will form part of my exhibition at Hawkers Farm during
— alongside sculptural textile works, fairytale garments, butterflies, natural history influences, and reflections shaped by the living landscape around my studio.
Nature, art, imagination - interwoven through creativity and place.”

23-31 May 2026
Hawkers Farm • Venue 14
https://dorsetartweeks.co.uk/
https://hawkersfarm.org/
Including on 30th May.

20/05/2026

Meet The Makers
Fiona MacKenzie of Pretaportland - love the name!

“Portland sheep are thrifty, hardy and easily handled, ideal for smallholders. An ancient breed Portlands originated in South Dorset, on the Isle of Portland.

The ewes are good, milky mothers and may breed out of season.
Lambs are born with a foxy red fleece which changes to cream in the first year, both sexes are horned. Portlands produce high quality wool and deliciously flavoursome meat.

Portland fleece is fine and much appreciated by hand-spinners. Some sheep have wool fine enough to produce a wedding-ring shawl. I select breeding rams with fine, uniform fleeces whenever possible.”

Fiona will have for sale; vegetable dyed skeins, herringbone fabric woven by The Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall, throws and knee rugs produced in Ceredigion, Wales by Curlew Weavers and cushions.

The Marsden Flock
“The Marsden Flock represents one of the original three foundation lines of the Portland  breed.  Alan Marsden recognised their importance in the 1960’s and 70’s when only 30 or so Portland ewes survived.  The line has been preserved since his death by his widow Joan and by Gini FitzGerald. In 1998 Gini passed the iconic flock number o24 to me to continue the foundation line, breeding these small, finely b***d examples of the breed with their exceptional fleeces using five families to maintain the variety in the gene pool.”

Tickets are available online or on the door on Saturday 30th May.
We can’t wait to meet you!
www.hawkersfarm.org/defashion-dorset

19/05/2026

Meet the Makers
All Things Raffia with Claire Richards

“I have been working with raffia since the early 90s...it has been one of my most enduring relationships! I am probably one of the least creative people I know but raffia does not need those skills and I enjoy making beautitul sustainable raffia items and teaching others how to.

In the last couple of years I have created a number of online courses and patterns so that more people can discover raffia craft and make their own beautiful hats or bags
I still run workshops and have probably now taught over 400 people in person.

Making with raffia may actually be one of the most accessible crafts I know of...not even needing much equipment.”

Congratulations to Claire for being declared one of the entrepreneurs this year! 👏