Member Stories
Poppy Treffry

When your day involves stitching penguins for the Falkland Islands, you know you’re not working a typical 9 to 5. For over two decades, Poppy Treffry has been brightening up the world one quirky, practical, and joyfully embroidered product at a time. From a studio clear-out that sparked a whole new chapter, to 11am coffee breaks and a team of creative women who treat the workspace more like a second family than a job – life at Pixel is anything but dull for this Cornish maker.

What’s your background and the story behind how Poppy Treffry began?

I grew up in Cornwall, in the middle of Bodmin moor, and always loved drawing but also making things and selling them. I left Cornwall to study textiles at Winchester School of Art. After my degree I worked in Central America for a few years, helping women to make money from their craft. When I returned to the UK I moved to Penzance and set up my own business with support from the Prince’s Trust. It grew quickly and I expanded to have employees and, at one point, two shops, selling my products.

Why did you choose to base yourself at Pixel?

To be completely honest the primary motivation was to shake things up in my business. After 21 years my team had grown and shrunk again and I knew we needed a big change to keep things moving forward in the business. It was hard work but really cathartic to downsize and get rid of years of accumulated ‘stuff’. We also really wanted to be in town, to be able to walk to work, and get to the shops in our lunch break.

Who, or what influences your craft?

I like my products to make people smile. I love to work with bright colours and to have some humour in the designs. I also like the things we make to be practical so that people make good use of them. My customers come up with some of the best ideas for products.

What does a typical day in the Poppy Treffry studio look like?

One of the things we all love about working here is the variety. Typical jobs will be cutting fabrics, packing orders, finishing product, planning marketing but there might also be modelling new products, coming up with ideas for our online courses, running live sessions with our embroidery club members, visiting customers around the county or choosing new fabrics. Whatever we’re working on, we always have coffee at 11 and stop for lunch for an hour at 1 so we can catch up with each other’s news.

Who are some of your favourite artists/designers in and around Penzance?

Do you have any exciting upcoming commissions or projects you could share with us?

We’re working on a big order of penguin themed products for a customer in the Falkland Islands at the moment so we’re cutting and stitching hundreds of purses, bags and cushions all embroidered with king and gentoo penguins!

What do you enjoy most about working with a team of creative women?

Having been a female team for so long it’s hard to know what it would be like if it was more mixed! We all get on really well and bring different perspectives and experiences to the team. We never struggle to come up with ideas for products or marketing and when we’ve got a big project on (like moving studios) we all muck in to make sure it gets done. I don’t think there’s ever been a day when I’ve dreaded going into work, it’s like my second family!