East Coast creator Nadine Jewer makes pottery with rope 

After graduating with her Masters of Health Administration in 2012, Nadine Jewer felt it was time for
a change.

She opted to leave her career as an occupational therapist to stay at home with her two children, Ella and Ethan.  During that time, she tapped into her creativity and unleashed a passion that would be the foundation for her new career direction.

“I’ve always been very creative, love to design and to try things,” Jewer says. “I’ve always been somebody who learned to knit as a young girl; I did needlepoint, cross-stitch, I love to make things [crafts] and other means of art, so I’ve always enjoyed doing things.”

While her children participated in sports, Jewer sat in the stands, knitting away to pass the time. While preparing for a marathon, she came across Patch, a local store in north-end Halifax, and a fluffed pillow in the window caught her attention and turned the wheels in motion.

“My son loves animals, so I went, ‘Oh, I should do this for him,’ so the story began,” she says. “We were in New York in December 2016, and I went to a quilt store called Gotham Quilt, which is very well known.  I told her I wanted to do this sloth; however, I said it has to have red, black, and grey. She’s like ‘Oh,’ and I said, ‘I know that’s my son’s’ colours’ so I bought some of the material and came home.”

After taking a course in 2017, Jewer expanded her talents to quilting and joined the Maritime Quilt Guild. The next year, a demo inspired the creator to buy a spool of rope to create a bowl. It was the catalyst of her new business, Warm, Wooly and Woven.

“Warm is the quilts, Wooly is like the knitting, and Woven is the rope baskets,” she says of the name.

The most successful part of her business has been the Rope Home Collection, with every crafted piece made with Canadian sourced 100 percent cotton rope.

“I create them so that the rope is functional and stylistic that it can store anything from knitting to kid’s toys to towels to plants to jewellery, and it can be for home or the cottage,” Jewer says. “I do the best to make it high quality. It’s simple, and it adds my flair.  I thoroughly enjoyed dying the ropes of a certain colour. I call it ‘pottery with a rope’ because you have to hold it a certain way as you work it through the sewing machine; how you get the shape. No two pieces are alike.”

One of the most popular items has been bread baskets.  While the purpose was to fit sourdough bread, customers have seen it as a multipurpose item for storage and gift baskets.

Jewer believes sustainability is the key to the future and does her part using cotton in her products. Overall, her goal is to ensure the cost of her goods is affordable but high quality.

“I want them to have joy; I want them to look at the product and be so happy with it. ‘I’m excited to have this product’ just like when I get excited,” she says.  Supporting our local artisans and stores is important, and it has come to the forefront in the last year. I feel good when it’s from Canada, built in Canada, sustainable in Canada; that’s important.”