Hi, I’m Cassie, a British surface pattern designer living in picturesque Herefordshire, UK. I love to design elegant, playful patterns in sophisticated colour palettes. Inspired by fairytale and folklore narratives, my adventures, moments in time, and the poetic magic of nostalgia; my designs are romantic and feminine, using naïve, organic forms combined with a timeless narrative to create holistic, magical prints. From my pearls of creativity, I want to leave a legacy, helping you to create memories through my designs and make the everyday magical.
For as long as I can remember I have loved textiles. Coming from generations of painters, dressmakers, tailors and seamstresses, it’s unsurprising that subliminally that is where life decided this was the direction it would take me in. For even longer than I can remember I have been creative.
Growing up with an extremely talented Mother who always promoted creativity through drawing, art and sewing, at university I studied Textile Design, avoiding pattern design at all costs. I will always be a student at heart and was hungry for knowledge. I wanted to experience all mediums; weaving, machine knitting, sewing and screen printing. In all of my projects I wanted to express my designs through a different technique. Pattern design seemed too obvious. Narrative and concept were central themes through out all of my projects. Why did a design have to be aesthetically pleasing? Why couldn’t it have a function or a story?
After graduating in 2011 from Hereford College of Arts with a First Class BA Hons in Textile Design I was disillusioned with the industry. I stopped doing what I loved; creating, designing and drawing. I travelled, I worked less than creative jobs, I stopped learning, but I always carried a fire inside me. The desire to own my own business doing what I loved, telling stories from my heart; designing.
In 2014 my world changed when I began working at a dress fabric shop. It was here that I saw thousands of designs pass through the shop. I’ve seen what works well and what doesn’t. I’d often enjoy searching for pattern repeats while scanning or photographing fabrics. I grew to know what would sell and more importantly why it would sell. Of course aesthetically pleasing designs sold well, but more often than not the best sellers had a great story behind the collection. These concepts resonated with me. This was what my degree was based on, why couldn’t I use my existing skills to tell my stories through pattern design.
Less than two years later, my daughter Sienna was born and everything turned upside down. Sometimes you have to lose a piece of yourself to find the rest of you. With all my focus on my baby girl, anxieties crept in and I started grieving for a piece of my soul I'd lost along the way. When a child is born they take a little spark of your heart with them and sometimes it takes a while to restore your own inner glow. My husband rescued me. Encouraging me every single day, helping me to rediscover my creative core. Giving me time to draw, study, teach myself Adobe Illustrator from scratch, create, design, talk through ideas, discuss colour palettes, he pushed me towards my dream. From the birth of our daughter another baby was born 'Cassandra Connolly' and this is our story. Please join me on this journey from my heart.
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