
Mother Stories
Textile Guru & New Mama Heather Winn Bowman
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Photographed by Molly Winters
Dec 9, 2014
At times, trolling Instagram can be a blessing, and other times a curse. In the case of our chance stumble upon the stunning work of textile designer Heather Winn Bowman, it was definitely the former. After hunting down the born-and-bred Texan, who is married to a rocker and just moved back to Austin after a 6-year stint in Brooklyn, we found her outlook on home, career, style, and brand-new motherhood is just as lovely as her handcrafted wonders. Click below for proof.
- "Layered, warm, and nostalgic. It's filled with lots of inherited pieces from my family and lots of knickknacks and textiles from our travels." Heather wears a vintage dress and Ryan Roche sweater. Lola wears a Mabo dress and bloomers.
- "Fill it with items that have a story. Hand-me-downs are best because a little piece of the person you inherited the item from is with you."
- "I wanted the nursery to be filled with color and inspiration and lots of handmade touches. The globe light is one of my favorite pieces. It was passed down from my grandfather."
- "I wouldn't say there's really one theme, but many themes that blend together. The design process started with the arrow wallpaper from Cavern Home and from there I wanted to add lots of color and texture to engage her senses."
- Handcrafted elements abound.
- Mama-daughter love.
- Beautiful Southwestern touches.
- "Getting to show her the world excites me the most. We have big plans to travel with her and I can't wait for her to experience what this wonderful planet has to offer."
- "Being a mother has really tested my patience. I've had to learn to slow down and breathe when things get chaotic. When times are a little rough, like when it's a little bit more difficult to soothe Lola for whatever reason, I get nervous that my anxious energy will transfer to her. I have to make a conscious effort to calm myself before I can calm her."
- Giggles and coos.
- "Day to day things take twice as long or more now that Lola is here. That was a hard adjustment for me, because I'm a busy body and am usually doing two things at once. Motherhood has made me slow down and take one thing at a time."
- Rich textures everywhere.
- "I love the weavings above her changing table. I made them years ago and thought they would be something fun and interesting for her to look at while I'm changing her. She fixates on the black and white weaving. High contrast patterns are great for a baby's developing eyesight."
- More textiles around the rest of the house.
- "My favorite things in the house are hand-me-downs. My mom gave me her National Geographic collection, which we have displayed on our bookshelves. Some date back to the early 1980s. I also love all of the textiles I've collected over the years. Each of them has a story and I love how they add so much warmth to a space."
- The eclectic living room.
- "We just moved into this house over the summer. It was one of the first houses we looked at when we began our search and it was definitely meant to be. My husband, Tibaut, has so much family history in this neighborhood. The land actually used to be his great-grandfather's ranch back when Austin was much smaller than it is today. Over time, the land was developed into the wonderful neighborhood it is now." Heather wears an Isabel Marant Etoile dress and Ann Demeulemeester shoes. Lola is wrapped in a Block Shop Textiles scarf.
- Shoes and rug. We want it all.
- "To me, Austin is the heart and soul of Texas. The city has everything I want Lola to experience growing up—music, art, and nature. People here genuinely care about their neighbors and parts of the city still feel like a small town, even though it's growing so rapidly. Another wonderful thing about Austin, isn't even the city itself, but it's vicinity to one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world: the hill country. I can't wait to watch Lola grow up in this wonderful city."
- "I love living in Austin again after being gone for several years, but a part of me misses Brooklyn and the Northeast. My husband and I always talk about how in a perfect world we would have house in New York, Austin, and somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. A house in Argentina or Peru wouldn't be too bad either!"
- "Lately we've been homebodies, which I love! But when we do venture out of the house, I like to take advantage of all the wonderful outdoor spots in the city. One of the best things about Austin is that you can immerse yourself in nature without leaving the city. Barton Springs, Lady Bird Lake, and Zilker Park are all downtown. We also spend a lot of time trying out new restaurants and checking out other new local businesses. Since Tibaut and I were in Brooklyn for six years, a lot has changed in Austin and we are discovering lots of new gems in the city." Heather wears a vintage dress. Lola wears a Misha and Puff sweater and Mabo pants.
- "Our bedroom is the simplest room in the house. A bed, nightstands, and a trunk full of quilts and linens. The only time we are in the room is when we are sleeping, so I haven't spent a lot of time decorating it. I love our bedding, though. Matteo sheets and quilts are simply the best. I'm also constantly cycling some handwoven pillows I've made from the bed to the couch in the living room."
- "My studio. There are windows on three walls of the room, so it kind of feels like I'm in a treehouse. Weaving and sewing are very calming to me and I love starting the day on the loom. It's even better when Lola is in there with me napping while I work."
- "I would describe it the same way I describe the style of my home: warm, layered, and nostalgic. I love vintage and handmade accents. I don't like to look too put together, so layering different styles makes an outfit more interesting to me. It hasn't really changed. I love wearing flowy dresses, which usually works well for breastfeeding. I've had to cut back on the chunky metal jewelry a bit though, so I don't bonk Lola on the head."
- "Matching Matteo baby and mother Hobo Linen Overalls! And coordinated Ace & Jig baby and mother outfits!"
- "A long vintage dress, a chunky cashmere sweater, and lots of turquoise rings." Heather wears a Rag & Bone top, Ace & Jig pants.
- "I love supporting small businesses. There's something so personal about small batch production and owning pieces like that feel so special. My favorite accessory is a scarf by Block Shop Textiles. I also love all things Ace & Jig and Growing Jewelry."
- "I like to shop both online and in person. There are so many great boutiques in random cities I will probably never go to, so it's great to be able to see what they have online. Here in Austin, Beehive and Kick Pleat are my favorites. In Brooklyn, I love Joinery and Bird. Online, Mille and Founders & Followers are great." Heather wears Coclico sandals.
- "I'm a textile designer. I produce weavings for home goods like pillows, floor coverings, and wall hangings. I started off designing womenswear for a line I launched in 2009 called Hedo Brooklyn. During that time, I began experimenting with handwoven details in some of the outerwear I was designing. I fell in love with weaving and gradually started to focus more of my time on the loom. I began making weavings for pillows and built a 6' x 9' loom to make large tapestries. I've been able to reach a larger audience with my work because of Instagram, which is just amazing. It's such a supportive and inspiring online community and I feel really lucky to be a maker with this technology at my fingertips." Lola wears Mabo pants and shirt.
- "Being a parent has invigorated me. I'm more inspired than ever to work. I've become more focused on my product and have a better vision for the future."
- "I feel really lucky I'm able to work from home and when my husband, Tibaut, is not on the road with his band, he produces music from home, as well. We take turns with Lola during the day, so we can each get our work done. We have a really great system down now and it allowed us to return to work fairly quickly after she was born."
- "Weaving and sewing is really fun for me and it's also therapeutic. I feel lucky that I get to do what I love for a living. Pretty soon, I'm expanding my product line to include handwoven bags."
- "Lola was my great-grandmother's name. She was quite a firecracker I hear."
- "One of the most amazing things about having a child is watching them experience things for the first time. We took her out to lunch when she was a few weeks old and it happened to be a beautiful day to sit outside. While we were eating, the wind picked up and we realized it was the first time she had ever felt a breeze. Something as simple as feeling the wind for the first time is really amazing to witness. Also she looks just like Tibaut and when I look at her I feel like I'm looking at him as a baby."
- "She lets me sleep in a little bit (not a reality now, but we're getting there!), I nurse her and have breakfast with Tibaut on the porch, and then we head out to my family's ranch in the hill country that's just 40 minutes outside of the city. We go for a hike, go swimming in the river, and play with our six adorable mini-donkeys. Then head back to Austin for an early dinner at one of our favorite spots. After that, we go back home, snuggle on the couch, and watch a movie before bed."
- "My sister is very inspiring as a mother. She lives a life of constant adventure with her two boys."
- "Life has slowed down and sped up at the same time. Little things that used to be so simple seem to take forever now, which has forced me to become a more patient person. At the same time, Lola seems to be growing right before my eyes and it's happening way too fast! Every time she wakes up from a nap she looks different."
- "We moved cross country during the first trimester of my pregnancy, which was really rough. Anything challenging after that seemed easy as pie compared to the move and the nausea of the first three months." Lola slips into a donkey onesie by Oeuf.
- "My mom encouraged creativity and always let us believe we could be anything we wanted. I hope to do the same with Lola."
- "Exercise! Yoga, swimming, running, whatever. I swam quite a bit, especially towards the end of my pregnancy, and did a little bit of yoga everyday, but I wish I had been better about exercise. I feel like if I had stayed in better shape while I was pregnant, the recovery after delivery would have been a little easier."
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