For our People Make Places series, we spent five minutes with Flora of Collingwood-Norris, a Galashiels based knitwear designer, visible mender, author and workshop host.
Can you tell us who you are, what you do, and your connection to Galashiels?
I’m Flora Collingwood-Norris, and I’m a knitwear designer, maker, visible mender and author, and I work from my small studio here in Galashiels.
I make knitted accessories on human powered vintage knitting machines, including scarves, hats and fingerless knits, and I also visibly mend knitwear, creating design features out of flaws and holes.
As well as taking mending commissions, I do a lot of teaching, both online and through in person workshops, and I’ve written and published a how to book on visibly mending knitwear.
My family moved to the Borders when I was about 11. We lived just outside Kelso, and once I realised I wanted to study knitwear, Galashiels seemed like the perfect place to do that. So I moved to Galashiels in 2006 to start studying. I graduated in 2009, spent a couple of years away in London, then came back and I’ve been here ever since.
What first attracted you to knitwear and knitting?
I’ve been knitting and sewing since I was five or six, and I’ve always loved it. I’ve always enjoyed making my own clothes, customising pieces I find in charity shops, making them unique and making them mine.
I hadn’t realised textiles was something you could study. I always thought it would maybe be fashion or something similar. So it was really exciting when I discovered you could study the making and design of fabrics themselves, rather than just garments.
What I particularly love about knitwear is that it brings all of that together. You can construct the garment, design the pattern and texture, shape it, and make the finished piece. It’s all part of the same process.
I love the textures, I love the feel of it. Honestly, I just love everything about it, and I’m quite happy knitting all the time.
What do you love most about working with textiles here in Galashiels?
I think Galashiels has given me the space I needed to be freelance and start my own business, partly because it’s been affordable in ways somewhere like London wouldn’t have been.
But it also has this wonderful textile heritage. The machines I use have spent their whole lives in the Borders, whether that’s in local mills or at the university, so they all have a real connection to the area.
There’s also someone locally who can repair them, which is pretty important. And although what I do is very different from the traditional mills, it’s still nice to be based somewhere that really understands textiles and values that history.
Galashiels and the Borders have such a strong textile heritage. How does it feel to be carrying that on in your own way?
I really like it. The Borders has such an incredible textile history, and it’s fascinating hearing stories about Gala during the height of the industry.
It feels special to be part of keeping that creative tradition going in some way, even as a micro business. I think it’s important that making and craftsmanship still have a place here.
My work is also very colour focused, and being surrounded by such a beautiful landscape is hugely inspiring, whether that’s heather covered hillsides, wildflowers, or changing seasons. It’s definitely an underrated place creatively.
What’s been your proudest moment so far with the business, something the Galashiels community can celebrate with you?
The big thing for me at the moment is that Collingwood-Norris turns 10 this year, actually 10 this month, which feels huge. I’m really chuffed about that.
Another thing I’m really proud of is that my workshops are starting to attract an international audience. Bringing people to Galashiels is really exciting, even if it’s only four people at a time, it’s still a start, and it means more people discovering the area.
I always encourage people to explore beyond the workshops too, to visit places like the tapestry, discover other local businesses, or head out for walks around the Borders.
At one workshop last September, everyone’s partners found their own way to enjoy the area. One sat in a pub reading the paper, another watched rugby, and another went hiking. I love that people can all connect with the area differently.
Especially now, as AI becomes more part of everyday life and being online feels increasingly challenging, I’d really love to create meaningful real life experiences here, spaces where people can come into the studio, learn new skills, reduce waste in their wardrobes, enjoy being creative, and meet like minded people.
I’m also really proud of my book, which I self published in 2021. One thing I love about running a small business is being able to do things in a way that feels right to you.
Self publishing was important to me, and I’ve chosen not to sell through Amazon because I want to run my business as ethically as possible.
The book is now stocked in places like the US, South Korea and Australia, which is really lovely to see.
