roll on autumn

I know it's still July but in my sewing room I'm dreaming of leaves turning golden-brown, conkers, roast chestnuts and dare I say it, even snow.

That's because I've been unfolding and rolling my gorgeous new Liberty prints and started my first design for autumn/winter 10/11.  It's a pleated skirt based on a pattern my Mum used to make for me.
It's called 'Amy Tallulah' - like all my clothes, they are named after friends' children.
  I'll be making it silky soft tana lawn, poplin and cord - this is 'Pep'.  Orangey-red flowers on an almost black/navy background.  

The daisies are called 'Koharu and Miyuki' in pretty and practical 'City Poplin'. 

I'll also be making it in snug & soft Kingly Cord.

Iron in the pleats for a formal preppy look or leave them soft for a floaty feel.  You choose. 

Join my email newsletter list via my website or email me (mail@peakprincess.co.uk) for preview samples which will be coming soon.

what I've sewn today

1) Two Tilly Toadstool pinafores - one in Liberty Mirabelle print (with satin bow-tie) & one in Liberty Millie print
2) Two Megan Jane smock frocks in Sarah's Secret Garden print
3) halfway through a Lily May twirl skirt in Sarah's Secret Garden print...
4) big bag of Liberty print offcuts to post to Quimper en France

My sewing room was filled with loveliness until I had to pack them away to post to customers.  Always a slightly wistful moment.

 PS The bow necessitated a panic phone call to Peak Princess' consultant (aka my Mum).  For some reason, no matter how many I tie, I have bow dyslexia.

Liberty print cushion covers get covered...

...in the lovely online ethical lifestyle magazine Daisy Green.  "We just adore these brand new Liberty print cushion covers from Peak Princess.  ‘Made with love’ the bespoke covers are available in a variety of stylishly pretty patterns and with a choice of buttons. You can customise yours with a double satin or velvet ribbon detail, ensuring your cushions are unique to you.  They are made in super soft tana lawn cotton to give added comfort and are nicely priced too. What a perfect way to freshen your living space this summer."

pining for my pin-cushion

Oh dear, oh dear.  My pin-cushion's snapped. 

I'd had a lovely, productive day.  This morning I went to see Cherie Blair speak at the Buxton Opera House as part of the marvellously eclectic Buxton Festival.  Last week the 'Other Half' and I went to see Ranulph Fiennes be wonderfully understated about trekking across the Antarctic.  Both talks were chaired by the classy Dame Janet Smith, who I had the pleasure of interviewing a few month's ago for High Peak Radio.

But I end the day feeling a sad loss.  It's a natty little gadget.  ('Other Half' calls it my wrist boil!)  The downside is that if I forget to put it on I stab myself in the wrist, but I'd covered it in Liberty's floral 'Paul' Kingly cord print.  It had survived a dunking in the bone china tea-cup that my sister bought me from Liberty of London for Christmas (see previous post about the dangers of sewing and drinking tea).

Fortunately, my mother (a dress designer herself) had given me a spare on my last visit to London but it's a plain navy and the sponge is quite sticky making it difficult to push pins in and get them out again.  A minor irritation but one that soon builds when cutting & tacking.

I'm drowning my sorrows in a glass of wine.  The pain is softened by the alcohol but also the pleasure of drinking from the Emma Bridgewater wine glass that my sister-in-law Sophie bought us for our 10th wedding anniversary.

liberty print cushions

I love cushions.  They are comfy and comforting.  They're an easy and relatively inexpensive way to add a splash of colour to your home.  That's why I've launched a range of handmade Liberty print cushion covers (from £34.99) alongside my range of Liberty print childrenswear.  Choose from my range of Liberty prints and I'll add either buttons or an invisible zip and either satin or velvet ribbon detail.
(Aficionados of Peak Princess will know that my sister-in-law is the design director at Jellycat Toys - hence the knitted owl and beany bottomed elephant gracing the photo-shoot!)

chubbies

I was just looking through some old patterns that my Mum (who was a dress designer) gave me.  I nearly wet myself laughing when I turned this shirt dress pattern over.  Look carefully at the sizing!

It's an issue close to my heart as I was what my Mum always called a 'bonny' baby.  She says I was beautiful but the camera never lies.  I don't think the bowl haircut did me any favours but I definitely wasn't a skinny minnie.

Perhaps that's why my handmade Peak Princess Liberty print dresses are all cut generously so slim little girls look and feel just as pretty as the bonny and beautiful.

This is me at 18 months!