Joseph Hutton quit his merchandising job on a Thursday in March 2018 with no plan beyond 'I want to make things.' The first week he produced two tote bags, one of which had a handle sewn on backwards. He sold the good one at a local makers market for £12, spent the money on more linen, and that was more or less that. The bedroom studio lasted about eight months before the fabric bolts took over the hallway and he had to rent a small unit on the edge of town.
The name Cedar Butterfly came from a sketchbook doodle that made no particular sense but felt right. Joseph has been asked to explain it roughly four hundred times and his answer changes…
Made by hand, held together by joy.
Joseph Hutton spent eight years working as a visual merchandiser for a mid-size department store chain before he quietly quit, bought a secondhand sewing machine, and set up a folding table in his spare bedroom. He had no formal training in textiles. Just a stubborn habit of pulling apart thrift-store garments to see how they were put together. Cedar Butterfly grew out of that bedroom in 2018, one lopsided tote bag at a time. These days Joseph obsesses over natural dyes, linen weights, and the exact angle of a pocket seam. He keeps a notebook of every mistake he has made so he can make different ones next time.