Hello

Meet Flora

I’m Flora Collingwood-Norris, a knitwear designer, maker and visible mender based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. I’ve been passionate about textiles, and knitwear in particular, all my life.

At Collingwood-Norris I know that you want to make a difference to the environment while looking great. In order to do that you need reduce consumption and make considered choices.

The problem is you’re lost in a sea of greenwashing which makes you feel overwhelmed and distrustful. I believe everyone deserves to buy sustainably with confidence, and I understand that you might not know where to start.

Collingwood-Norris can provide you with the mending skills you need to care for your knitwear to make it last with style, and handmade knitwear gives you the option to buy new when necessary knowing exactly where your knitwear is made, and by whom.

Extending the life of the clothing you own is the best way to have a sustainable wardrobe and reduce textile waste.

Mending

I’ve put all my mending knowledge into my book “Visible creative mending for knitwear”to help guide you through caring for and repairing your knitwear. I also offer live and pre-recorded darning workshops and a series of video guides, as well as darning wool.

 Combining traditional skills with contemporary design is something that can set your mending apart. My book on mending knitwear and darning workshops will help you take your mending to the next level so you can rejuvenate your old knitwear and feel like you have something new to wear.

Buy My Book
Book a workshop
Buy Darning Wool

Knitwear

Ethical Scottish Knitwear

Collingwood-Norris knitwear is made either by me in my Galashiels studio on hand-powered knitting machines, or in small batches at one of my local factories in Hawick, valuing local knowledge and craftsmanship. Each piece made in the studio has the name of the knitter on the label.

To bring you joy every time you wear it, my ethical knitwear focuses on colour, inspired by the Scottish landscapes I love. Designed to transcend seasonal trends and be worn time after time. 

Championing the use of natural fibres, I aim to bring out the best in the lamb’s wool used in my designs, so that it looks great and feels fantastic next to your skin.

Each item is made to shape and so is naturally zero waste. However, sometimes things do go wrong (I’m only human), so I keep the mistakes and scraps and turn them into lavender bags and mending kits to help with knitwear care.

Shop Knitwear

Luxurious Natural Fibres

  • A top down view of colourful cones of lamabswool yarn

    Supersoft Lambswool

    I use super-soft, fine lamb’s wool that’s cruelty-free, and spun and dyed in Kinross, Scotland, using Global Organic Textile Standard approved dyes. Wool has many wonderful properties that make it a fantastic sustainable fibre. It is renewable, biodegradable (and it’s natural, so no micro plastics will be released when you wash it), and unless it’s actually dirty, you can air it after wearing rather than washing it.

  • Cones of italian silk yarn in shades of yellow, turquoise, aqua, grey and cobalt blue

    Silk

    I also use very fine silk, spun in Italy. Silk is also natural and biodegradable, and has a beautiful natural shine and drape. Like wool, it will keep you warm when it’s cool, and cool when it’s warm. A great alternative if you’re allergic to wool, or perhaps if you’d like a little bit more glamour in your life.

  • Top down view of colourful cones of cashmere yarn in the Collingwoodd-Norris design studio

    Cashmere

    For mending, and for some one-of-a-kind-scarves, I also use cashmere. The spinners in Kinross sell me any end cones they have left from their sample room. This is pre-consumer waste and using it to extend the life of knitwear seems very appropriate.

The Knitwear Process

  • Flora Collingwood-Norris knittng using a v bed knitting machine in her Galashiels studio

    Knitting

    This V-bed knitting machine is powered by me- no electricity required!

  • Close-up of hands linking a blue and yellow textured lambswool scarf by Collingwood Norris

    Linking

    Finishing edges and joining seams. A process requiring precision.

  • Flora Collingwood Norris is sitting on a colourful studio, sewing in ends of a blue and green lambswool scarf, smiling at the camera.

    Sewing in ends

    Sewing in ends- each item is finished by hand.

  • A yellow lambswool knittedscarf submerged in water to remove oils

    Washing

    Careful washing to remove oils and achieve that supersoft finish.

Blog - How blanket scarves are made