Mable & Co (very) British Letterpress products from the Suffolk Coast

We are delighted to introduce another design studio that meets all of our strict criteria (see our About Us page) with ease! This time our friends are from the United Kingdom. Think British mid-century minimalism and traditional craftsmanship and materials.

Mabel & Co is a UK-based letterpress, weaving & pottery studio. James and Katie  produce all their designs in their studio on the Suffolk Coast (South-East England), that used to be the old wheelwright's shop of a country stately home, using their Victorian and vintage printing presses.

We have strong personal connections with Suffolk, a British county known for spectacular skies, beautiful nature and wild shores off the North Sea coast. Being at the most Eastern point of the U.K., Suffolk (see https://www.visitsuffolk.com/) feels far away from the British capital and has a timeless atmosphere.

Traces of traditional craftsmanship and history abound and local roads are dotted with quaint cottages and centuries old pubs. The Mabel & Co. studio is located near Orford, an exquisite coastal village which is 10 miles from the nearest main road. The village hasn’t changed much in the past 100 years and neither have Mabel & Co’s traditional printing presses, still producing beautiful prints after generations of use.

James and Katie’s design influences are British utilitarian and the typefaces they use will be familiar and recognisable to many customers, creating an instant sense of connection. Strong, simple, typography is combined with robust and practical materials to create a high quality product. Their work definitely harks back to days when there was more harmony, and a sense of shared ownership, in the public sphere. It’s a style that leans on the British aesthetic, with values of communal living. 

Together with traditional craft, sustainability is fundamental to the way James and Katie work, all of their products are plastic free and use either European Recycled or British FSC certified paper and card. Everything is recyclable. The recycled specific letterpress card they use a lot comes from Germany, but they also source from Stoneywood Mill near Aberdeen: it’s been going for over 250 years and produces superb recycled paper. They get card from James Cropper in the Lake District, a paper mill very forward-thinking when it comes to sustainability.

Their printing ink is also linseed oil-based sourced from small British companies, and all of their packaging is either compostable or recyclable. 

James in particular, is a perfectionist, cards are carefully printed with just the right amount of debossing and a restrained use of colours, everything is perfectly aligned. Packaging is vintage styled and beautifully made. All of their creations are truly handcrafted, even their notebooks are stapled by hand using a circa 1900 industrial (hand-powered) stapler.

Although they are currently mostly known for letterpress printing, weaving is another important activity for them. Their studio is split into two areas, with the print room containing restored letterpress printing presses from 1860 to 1960. In the weaving area they have a rescued and restored Hattersley Domestic weaving loom, which came from an abandoned croft on the Isle of Lewis (they travelled 2000 miles to rescue it). They also run courses from their studio throughout the year on letterpress printing, bookbinding and film photography, including large format photography.

We stock their beautiful handmade notebooks, greeting cards and notebook storage boxes. See the collection here!