paisley liberty cushion covers

I'm quite green with envy.  Suzi Everall entered Daisy Green magazine's competition to win a pair of my new handmade Liberty print tana lawn cushion covers (£34.99 each for a pair).

I've still not had time to make myself any so she was lucky I managed to overcome the temptation to keep them for myself!

She chose a very sophisticated green paisley print called 'Mark' from my stock of about fifty prints which I teamed with cover buttons and bottle green velvet ribbon.

The Lady

Well, I had thought life was complete yesterday when I got to interview Blue Peter's Janet Ellis for High Peak Radio*.  But I've just seen this week's The Lady magazine and read Bibi Berki's lovely interview with me about women who've as she puts it "bitten the bullet, packed in the job and set out on a re-balanced life where you decide what you do each day and make money at the end of it". 

It also features the terribly talented Angela Armsby who moved to Cairo and set up Angelily making the most gorgeous Egyptian cotton pyjamas which I live in (though I try to have enough discipline not to spend the day sewing in them!).

By the way, I'm terribly impressed with how tech-friendly The Lady are - you can download a digital copy for just £1 - it takes seconds.

*For those who are wondering, in my former life I was a BBC Radio 4 producer and now I read the news for High Peak Radio when the news ed's busy with his weekly evening football programme.  I think of myself as the "half-day, mid-week during the football season substitute".

fashionable add-ons

A double delight today...first UK Handmade featured an interview with me (see below) and then my copy of Angels and Urchins magazine drops through the letter box with my new Liberty print hair accessories in the Fashion News.  

Fabric designer Kate Yorke of Emily Pickle makes them for me.  (She lives in the village down the road so I run down with Liberty offcuts and she cycles back up with gorgeous clips, bobbles, bracelets and bags).

A&U's a must-read, even if you don't live in London.  Editors Annie and Emily always make sure it's packed with great fashion and interesting articles.    The summer edition had me giggling with their review of Brazilian waxing.  This edition's got a great article on buying computer equipment for kids.

And if you get impatient in-between the quarterly editions, then sign up for their colourful, inspiring weekly email newsletter.  I'm doubly impressed that a&u online ed Claire Gill's modelling maternity wear in the mag and looking fabulous.

farewell Millie, Sarah, Tracey, Poppy and Daisy

It's so sad when I get to the end of a roll of fabric.  

The upside is that Liberty of London supply me direct so every few months I have the great pleasure of receiving a box packed with beautiful new prints. 

Over the past few weeks I've used the last of the beautiful red floral check Millie and the delicate Sarah's Secret Garden as well as the bold blue Poppy and Daisy.  I have just enough of Millie and Poppy and Daisy for hair accessories but not enough for clothes.  Tracey's a fabulous 50s style butterfly print that I picked up from the offcuts bin at Liberty just as I was starting out.  She's going to a good home - cushion covers for my sister-in-law, Sophie.

PS If you'd like to read more about Peak Princess and have a peek into my sewing room, read my interview with UK Handmade.  

cosmo bride

I'm covered in paint after a traditional British bank holiday weekend of DIY.  So it's a delight to see two of my handmade Liberty print bridesmaid dresses in the Fashion News of the October/November issue of Cosmo Bride (out now). 

"What's hot in the wedding world, right here, right now.  Cutie Pie - We can't resist these handmade Liberty print flowergirl dresses from Peak Princess - choose from 30 prints."

PS One more coat of paint and then I'm back in the sewing room to finish off the collection.  (Do you think Vivienne Westwood does her own painting?)

kitten chaos

Our lovely Norwegian Forest cat has returned or rather been returned.  He disappeared for 3 weeks in May and was found at a farm in Chapel (2 miles away) only to disappear again last week when we went to the Lakes.  This time we knew he'd gone back for a 'farm stay' stay break so we borrowed a cat trap from the lovely people at the Windyway Trust animal rescue centre.  We've now tagged him so he's a proper ASBO cat.  Next time he runs off hopefully we'll be able to hear his collar chip beep!

Meanwhile, our London street cat, Mr Enos Knibbs has been taking part in a feline 'Who Do You Think You Are?' or rather, 'Who Do You Think You Are Named After?'.   

Last week Alan Jackson got in touch because he's writing an article about the real Enos Knibbs for the K/Nibb/S One Name Study and was intrigued how we'd come across the name on my Peak Princess website.

Alan takes up the story on his website:

"A former BBC Radio 4 producer of 'The World at One', and 'PM' its sister programme [me!], 'inherited' from a colleague a cat called Mr Knibbs, named after the Jamaican umpire Enos KNIBBS.   Bloggers of the programmes were effusive when given the news that 'Mr Knibbs is tired of London life so we're moving to the country which means that with great sadness I have to hand in my notice as PM's Blog Editor'.  Eddie MAIR (host of 'The PM Programme - Window on Your World') duly thanked her for her services.

One blogger, who heard an edition of the lunchtime programme on Valentine's Day 2007, posted increduously that the announcer had given a production credit to none other than 'Enos Knibbs'.

The original owners of the cat [our friends Roger and Bibi Sawyer] had heard the cricket commentator Jonathan AGNEW ('Aggers') talking about a notable Test Match in the West Indies.  He ran through the teams and named the umpire.  They decided then and there that their next animal would be called Enos Knibbs" 

(*In case you're wondering Otso is a Finnish Lapphund named after the Finnish Bear spirit.)

PS And this is Moses our older Finnish Lapphund

chic little babies

I've had an afternoon locked in my sewing room with my Mac.  I'm in danger of getting RSI from uploading all my lovely new Liberty prints onto my website.  So it was a lovely end to my day to meet a new customer, Caireen, who came to pick up two baby rompers in Millie and Fairford print, and then to discover that Maggie Westhead (Associate Shopping & Style editor of Time Out magazine, London) has featured my new autumn/winter designs on her Chic Little Baby blog. 

Maggie says:  "My life has changed in the most exciting way since giving birth to Evie last May. I have a book out called '101 Things to Buy Before You Die'. This summer, I officially launch my style blog for babies featuring quirky fashion, cool accessories and baby shopping events. Don't do motherhood without it!"   

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!

liberty print bridesmaids

I'm busy working on a new collection of dresses for bridesmaids and flower girls.  Like all my dresses, they will be handmade in your choice of my Liberty prints.  This is 'Mirabelle'. 

Brides Magazine's shopping editor, Astrid Joss, kindly wrote in her Fashion Blog:  "For slightly alternative BOHO but still bridal...I have also just discovered a great new brand Peak Princess who do great dresses in cotton floral liberty prints - seriously cute! They are also good for baby bridesmaids as they start at three months and go up to nine years (www.peakprincess.co.uk). What I love about them is the print gives a different look yet it's still perfect for little girls to walk down the aisle in!"

I was a bit anxious about whether this longer midi length version of my 'Lily May' twirl skirt would work with my Tilly Toadstool pinafore bodice.  But I think the effect's delightful - particularly with the wide satin ribbon round the bodice, tied so it drapes down the back of the dress. 

Now she just needs a name.

peak prince & princess in country living

I was over the moon in May when Country Living featured my Liberty Wiltshire print 'Mia Rose' shift dress so you can only imagine how excited I was today to pop into Chinley's newagent to find both my Peak Prince Liberty 'Phillipa' bicycles 'Samuel L' shirt and 'Freya Bean' Liberty 'Phoebe' print blouse in July's issue.

We went to the VIP preview of the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in London on Wednesday for my Mum's birthday. The artist Grayson Perry (who designed the Phillipa print) was there but I didn't dare go up and tell him how much I love working with his designs.

(In case you're wondering Mia and Sam are my god-children and Freya's one of the little girls in the village who does my modelling.)

emily pickle for peak princess

I'm immensely excited that the talented fabric designer and creator of beautiful purses and bags Emily Pickle has agreed to make Liberty print hair bobbles and clips for Peak Princess.

They're available made-to-order from just £3.99 to match my range of handmade Liberty print blouses, dresses and skirts.

my lovely friends

A big thank you to the immensely talented Liz Holcroft who helped me redesign my website over the weekend. Liz is the interior design director at the award-winning architects AllisonPike. She's introduced soft greys, dusky pinks and understated chocolate tones as well as new fonts.

I should add that I run my own website using the fabulous Mr Site.

Their technical team of experts are always on hand to advise me for just £99 a year. I've been quoted in excess of £2,000 for a custom built retail site.

And last but not least, thank you to Anna and Linn who've patiently let me wrap tape measures round them and photograph them in my new 'Freya Bean' blouse for grown ups. (Limited preview samples available for just £49.99).

my lovely customers

For every new design I offer preview samples at around half price via my email newsletter. (Sign up via my website or mail@peakprincess.co.uk).

The latest newsletter featured my new ruffle top cami, pinafore and maxi dress. I always feel so lucky to have such lovely customers who are so helpful. Brigitte, Catherine and Kath sent me these pics of their Peak Princesses. It's hugely useful for me to get feedback on dress lengths, fit and style before launching a new design to the public.

In this case I've adjusted the fit across the chest as the initial samples were a little roomy under the arms and I've made the adjustable straps even more adjustable to allow for growth.

So a huge thank you to everyone who sends me their thoughts and comments. And a special thanks to all those who send pictures. I'm always bowled over and full of pride to have so many of you who send photos of happy little boys and girls wearing my designs.

the view from my sewing room

This is why I love working from home!

puppy power

This is our new puppy, Otso with our dog Moses. He's named after the Finnish bear spirit because he's a Finnish Lapphund and looks like a little teddy bear. He is terribly cute and a bundle of fun but a terrible distraction from sewing!

Meanwhile, our Norwegian Forest cat Loki's been living up to his namesake (the Norse god of mischief) and fell in a tub of diesel (where & how we don't know) so the poor thing's been washed five times now. After a weekend of him being touch and go he seems to be on the mend thankfully.