Carolyn Denham and Roderick Field are Merchant & Mills. The company was formed in 2010 to elevate sewing to its proper place in the creative world, respecting the craftsmanship it entails. They produce a range of card patterns and really useful kits and in profound contrast to the pretty, flowery image of the average haberdasher, they present superb and unusual sewing of notions in stark, utilitarian packaging.
Carolyn has a degree in fashion and has lived and worked in Italy and New York. She spent several years in Interior Design. Roderick is an established photographer and writer with works in the National Portrait Gallery. He is responsible for the company’s visual style and is currently designing artwork for a wide variety of contemporary merchandise.
BEESWAX:
Pure beeeswax potted with a lid.
Beeswax is traditionally used by tailors to strengthen thread when hand sewing buttonholes. It also prevents static and tangling. Keep it by the sewing machine and pull your thread across it a couple of times before snipping off the thread end and it will be as easy as pie to get the stiff neat end through the machine needle.