Jessie de Salis: The Tactile Soul of Hand-Printed Textiles

Where foraged botanicals meet the honest pulse of traditional print with Jessie de Salis

Working from a rustic studio barn in Somerset, British textile designer Jessie de Salis embraces the beauty of slow craft. She designs bold, hand-printed stonewashed linens that bring artful warmth to modern living spaces. Alongside her cousin Alice, she also creates seasonal fabric collections dyed with foraged plants and wild botanicals.

Her creative philosophy champions the honest texture of traditional screen printing over digital precision. Through bespoke commissions and hands-on workshops, she weaves natural pigments and manual labor into living textiles made straight from the heart.

IRK: What philosophy sparked Jessie de Salis, and how do you balance heritage craft with modern interiors?

Jessie de Salis: Specifically, I wanted to create textiles that feel alive, that have been printed by hand, not a machine. In fact, I was inspired by the work of Marimekko and how their story began. Eventually, they transformed an old oil cloth factory into a screen printing studio, creating beautiful large-scale designs.

I loved the idea of returning to the traditional, old-school ways of making. And I wanted to be able to oversee the whole design process. Screen printing is full of limitations; every colour is printed individually, every ink hand mixed.

I’m a maximalist at heart, but the craft has helped me to refine and simplify my designs. I love the combination of modern, big bold design being created by traditional processes.

IRK: How do your botanical and floral dye processes shape the atmosphere and color palette of each collection?

Jessie de Salis: I work alongside my cousin Alice, who is a natural dyer and sewer. We use water-based inks for printing. Every year, we also dye a fabric collection using foraged plants and flowers.

When creating my colour palettes, I love to look to nature for inspiration: what makes the orange of a flower, or the blue of the sky, pop? Colour combinations of flowers and landscapes are naturally harmonising, so a good source of inspiration.

IRK: Your studio embraces traditional, large-scale screen printing; what draws you to tactile manual methods over modern digital alternatives?

Jessie de Salis: Above pure design, I cherish the manual rhythm of textile work. Specifically, pulling a print across a long table creates an immediate connection to physical scale.

Unlike scrolling through vector files on a screen, witnessing ten meters of textile unfold engages all the senses. Fortunately, my current studio permits this ambition, and hence allows my patterns to exist in their truest scale.

IRK: Your textiles blend botanicals with geometric arches; where do you find the dialogue between organic landscapes and built environments?

Jessie de Salis: Hand-printing fabrics have this organic quality. A geometric stripe, although built from solid bold lines, takes on an earthy, natural feel when you screen print it.

There is a harmonising style that seems to emerge from the process. An oversize fig leaf and a geometric stripe, even though seemingly opposite images, come together when created by the same hand.

IRK: Beyond ready-to-buy homeware, you take on custom interior projects; how does your creative approach adapt for bespoke spaces?

Jessie de Salis: Admittedly, taking on bespoke commissions remains one of the most rewarding creative challenges. Rather than relying on standard palettes, I often formulate tailored colours specifically for the project.

Meanwhile, this deliberate focus on spatial context unifies the space, giving the room a natural, collected presence.

IRK: In hand-printed textiles, variations naturally occur; how do you embrace these visible traces of human labor in your work?

Jessie de Salis: As someone recently reminded me, a flaw in hand-printed design is always a charm. Naturally, manual screen printing is never flawless. Yet, it is precisely this human touch that makes the textile come alive, whereas a machine could never capture that same warmth.

IRK: Through your “Print & Upholster” workshops, how does teaching craft transmission feed back into your own design practice?

Jessie de Salis: Teaching helps me examine my practice and makes me a better designer. It helps me to continue learning. It feels right to share my space and the craft with others.

Helping my students create something totally bespoke keeps me open to different ideas. In fact, they screen print their own patterns, choose their colors, and ultimately make something completely unique.

IRK: From linens to statement upholstery, how do you envision your everyday textiles transforming a home’s rhythm and emotional warmth?

Jessie de Salis: I hope that my fabrics can bring life and colour to a space. One thing that is so special about textiles is its tactility. We use it to dress our tables, to block out light, to sit on and to sleep in.

I love that textiles are useful. Patterned fabrics are like art, bringing life and colour to the homes we live in.

IRK: As your work gains wider critical acclaim and editorial visibility, how do you protect the intimacy of your artisanal workshop while navigating the demands of the design industry?

Jessie de Salis: That’s very kind of you to say. Ultimately, whatever the future holds, above all, it remains vital to keep making textiles straight from the heart.

True craft always resonates when it begins with genuine passion, and so staying grounded in that intention keeps our creative work alive.

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