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Belfast knitwear designer Mary Callan kits out Irish celebrities like Dermot O’Leary and Laura Whitmore to mark St Patrick’s Day

Posted on by Shahia

Dermot O’Leary donned his unique knitwear by Mary Callan on last Friday’s episode of This Morning — which draws in nearly 900,000 viewers daily.

He also gave her a special shout-out on the programme and thanked her for the bespoke piece of clothing which was made especially for him.

The following day, Irish presenter Laura Whitmore sported her own one-of-a-kind sweater on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.

Mary — who is originally from Newcastle in Co Down — created the range of knitwear as a commission from Tourism Ireland.

Mary Callan

As well as Laura and Dermot, she also created pieces for Derry Girls’ Sister Michael — actress Siobhan McSweeney — and a scarf for none other than Paddington Bear — each made with a unique pattern and story to tell.

Mary told the Belfast Telegraph that she was approached only five weeks ago to make the creations and that, while there was no guarantee that the celebrities would be wearing the jumpers anywhere public, she was “over the moon” to see them on TV.

“They were all created in this Fair Isle style in a repeated pattern with different shades of green with other colours mixed in,” she explained.

“Paddington Bear is wearing his scarf on the statue at Paddington station in London, which is so iconic and draws so many people daily.

“I made his featuring some typical Irish motifs like shamrocks and the waves of the Wild Atlantic Way, but added in some detail specific to him like marmalade sandwiches.”

For the personalised jumpers for each celebrity, Mary explained that they all wanted them to feature typical Irish designs like Celtic knots and shamrocks and pints of Guinness, but with other details unique to them.

Dermot O’Leary in a jumper made by Mary Callan. Credit: This Morning

For Dermot O’Leary’s jumper, the designer included a pattern of Hook Lighthouse from Wexford, as the presenter’s family is from that part of Ireland.

“I’ve heard him mention he loves that lighthouse before, so I wanted to include that as well as the Wexford county colours because I know he loves sport,” she explained.

Laura Whitmore’s design was similar but with different details.

Laura Whitmore in a jumper made by Mary Callan. Credit: Laura Whitmore Instagram

“Obviously from Bray, she’s proud to have grown up beside the seaside and so I added some of those big waves in her pattern and also some Tayto references,” Mary told the Belfast Telegraph.

“Laura is so glamorous and is known for her fabulous fashion sense so it was amazing to see her wear it and I think it fitted quite well!”

For Siobhan McSweeney’s jumper, Mary switched out the shamrock pattern for harps instead and added teapots as both a nod to her love of tea and her work on the Great Pottery Throw Down.

“I thought the most famous thing is the traditional Irish cottage so I added a few of them into the pattern as well.”

Mary said that “it was a great project to work on” adding that she enjoys telling stories through her knitwear.

“It was a lot of work to get the design right and unique to each person, as well as getting the sizing right without physically seeing them, but when I saw the jumpers on TV it felt like it was all worth it,” she said.

“When they give you a wee shout-out on their social media platforms and on live TV it really is heart-warming.”

Paddington statue with Callan Knitwear scarf

No stranger to seeing her designs on our TV screens, last year Mary was asked to design a jumper for Derry Girls when she created the iconic ‘Ulster Fry’ jumper for Ma Mary.

As part of her business Callan Knitwear, Mary has also designed a sweater for the NI crime drama Bloodlands and was asked to create a cardigan for the movie The Wakening.

However, it is in her own fun fashion designs that she has managed to make a name for herself, combining bright colours with bold patterns to create a popular range of modern jumpers, snoods and scarves.

All of her pieces are hand-loomed, hand-tooled and hand-finished at her workshop in Conway Mill in Belfast.

In the future she is hoping to create a line of blankets with the ethos of zero waste in mind, using wool and materials she has left from other designs.

You can follow her latest work by searching for @callan_knit on Instagram.

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