Hello, I’m Ginny — the maker, melter and sewer behind Singe & Salvage.
I started out as a teacher, specialising in textiles, though my days were filled with all sorts of creative, and not so creative chaos. At home, my children were as keen as me as we tried everything from batik to tie-die to all sorts of printing. Batik stole my heart — mainly because it never quite does what you expect. That moment when you melt away the wax and think, oh… that’s not what I planned — pure magic! I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since, and always with a love of colour. And what an absorbing way to help children learn to make the most out of the unexpected, both in the classroom and at home.
I’ve always been a fan of making the most of what I have, whether it’s fabrics, leftovers, or anything else lying around. My kids still tease me about the “creative concoctions” I’d put in front of them for supper! That same love of reuse and reinvention has shaped the way I live, work, and make art.
Before fully surrendering to my creative life, I ran a children’s leisure business as well as an online party bag business with my husband, sending orders all over the country. Seventeen years later, I hit my limit with single-use plastic and thought… nope, not for me. So we happily retired and I finally gave my art the time it deserved.
By then I’d amassed a serious fabric stash — some pieces decades old, some brought back by my father from his travels across Asia — and as a lifelong experimenter and risk-taker, lover of colour, texture and composition, I was ready to see what would happen if they came into contact with a heat gun or soldering iron. At the same time I discovered Kim Thittichai and her book Hot Textiles, and everything clicked. Burning, melting, and sewing fabric became my new obsession. At the same time, I moved to a tiny rural village on the Northamptonshire/Oxfordshire border, surrounded by fields, hedgerows, and — most importantly — flowers. They’ve always been a quiet obsession of mine, and naturally, their colours crept into my work. The rest is history ....
These days, I’m part of the Banbury Artists’ Co-operative, showing work at Church Lane Gallery (always worth a peek). I also have periods of selling through Banbury Museum Gift Shop (next will be 13th July - 13th October 2026). I take part in Oxfordshire Artweeks (find me at King's Sutton Church from 7th-17th May 2026), I pop up at events throughout the year, and I organise the Culworth Christmas Shopping Trail (OX17 2BB)— a whole day is required to see all the amazing artisans involved (6th December 2026).