win a Peak Princess dress

Daisy Green magazine are offering readers the chance to win one of my dresses. Described as a cross between Sex and the City and The Good Life it's a great read full of eco-friendly and ethical ideas for sustainable living.

They've also published my guide to making your very own mini Peak Princess creation for dollies.

I'm starting to sell little "make your own Liberty dolly dress packs" including enough tana lawn cotton & ribbon for 2 dresses plus pattern & instructions. If you're interested in buying one just email me (mail@peakprincess.co.uk).

love hearts

I'm off to the Chilterns Craft Fair at the beautiful Stonor Park tomorrow. The show runs from Friday through til Monday so please do come along.

I'll have a big bowl of Love Hearts on my stall - made by the High Peak's answer to Willie Wonker's Chocolate Factory, Swizzels Matlow in New Mills.

Fortunately my velvet ribbons arrived this morning so I've been finishing off my autumn/winter 'Anya Rose' shift dresses. I'm doing them in denim with Liberty lining & trim and also in super soft Liberty cord prints.

pins and needles

A day that got off to a bad start but ended happily...
This morning at 8am I broke my last size 9 needle. It's the slender size that's perfect for sewing Liberty's Tana Lawn cotton. I was stupidly using it to sewing the inverted box pleat of my new 'Anya Rose' Liberty Kingly cord baby dress. Even though it's super soft, three layers of baby cord was too much and it snapped off. Disaster was averted by a trip to Sew-In in Buxton.

Cake and coffee and my first order from the United States for a 'Tilly Toadstool' pinafore in Liberty's Wiltshire print cheered me up enormously.

There are few greater pleasures in life than sewing on buttons to the gentle rhythm of Test Match Special - especially when Australia's collapsing. I mused about the wonders of my 'no need to thread' needles which have an ingenious little gap through which you snap the thread. It saves endless hours poking ragged ends through tiny holes, giving up, looking for my scissors which are always on the other side of the sewing room. (You can get them at Tesco in Whaley Bridge).

The pinafore has a lovely full gathered skirt which requires lots and lots of pinning. This is a photo of my wrist-band pin cushion. This one broke but I bought a new one from the wonderful Manchester wholesaler, Taylors (who are sending me a supply of Berisfords of Congleton's lovely velvet ribbons for mu autumn/winter collection).

I also have a sweet little iced bun pin cushion that I bought from clever Kitty Eden who makes all sorts of handmade lovelinesses.

PS I'm always slightly wary of swallowing pins so I always have a pin cushion to hand to try and avoid holding them between my lips. We had a lovely golden retriever called Leah when I was a little girl. She swallowed one of Mum's pins. Luckily Mum knew to feed her buttered cotton wool balls which coated the pin long enough for the dog to get to the vets. (The only downside was that from then on Leah used to eat the cotton wool off the Christmas tree every year!)

Peak Prince shirt

This is my new Peak Prince shirt - called "Samuel L." in honour of my godson Samuel Lawrence. In Grayson Perry's new Liberty bicycle print called Philippa (after his wife I believe). I'm sure Sam would prefer Liberty's car print as he's adores anything with four wheels.

It's still in sample stage but if anyone would like to buy preview samples just email me.

learn to dress dolly

I borrowed a doll from my friend Hayley's little girls, Caitlin and Freya, after we spent an afternoon making dresses for their Jellycat Liberty Belles.

I was inspired to try and design my own 'Peak Princess' Liberty frocks for dolls - with a little help from Mum (who came up with the great ribbon strap idea).

This is dolly wearing a Liberty 'Phoebe' print tea dress with gold ribbon straps and belt, followed by a Liberty 'Ros' print prom dress with matching pink straps and belt. (Hair cut courtesy of Freya!)

Can't wait to try the new pattern out with the girls, especially as Mum's bought them a mini-sewing machine to practise on.

tweet tweet

I'm feeling quite proud of myself for having managed to put my twitter updates on my homepage as well as on this blog (see bottom right). How integrated is that!!

I've also started creating my autumn/winter Liberty print collection web boutique so my 'Freya Bean' blouses, 'Anya Rose' Liberty cord shifts and denim with Liberty trim shifts and 'Bella Luella' long sleeve baby dresses will be available online by the end of the month.

And I'm delighted that my 'Martha Grace' baby cord dress is in this month's Baby Hampshire and Baby Surrey magazines.

...got to go back up to the sewing room now.

ribbons and bows

Just discovered this gorgeous collection of bows, hairbands, clips and alice bands in every colour of the rainbow...there's loads more on Miss Gracie's site.

I've got ribbons on my mind at the moment and I'm in the middle of matching up sumptuous velvet ribbons to my lovely new Liberty tana lawn and baby cord autumn/winter prints.

I'm buying them from a local firm called Berisfords who've been making ribbons for more than a hundred and fifty years.

The only problem is that my kitten, Loki, runs into my sewing room, steals them and runs downstairs doing a bad impression of the Andrex puppy.

radio gaga

Behind my overlocker you can just see my radio. It's an ancient analogue Matsui which means Mum must have bought it years ago. The fm/lw/mw button's broken so you have to fiddle with it to get it to work.

In my former London life I used to work for Radio 4. We had gorgeous Pure digital radios in every room...when we moved to the digital desert that is the Peak District I 'loaned' them to my Mum (who moved down to London the same day we moved up here!). Roll on switchover.

I'm fond of this one because I once lent it to John Prescott when he was being interviewed for a BBC 5 live report that I produced in Manchester. (Read the Home Business magazine for more on my former life)

When I'm sewing I have it turned up really loud. (Probably why my writer husband works downstairs!). Generally I listen to Radio 4 til about lunchtime, then after Sean or Martha on The World at One it's time to tune into Simon Mayo on 5 live. Then it's back to Eddie Mair's PM of course.

When I fancy a bit of music I tune into High Peak Radio (you might hear me reading the news for them from time to time!). They allow me to indulge my passion for radio & kindly allowed me to do a lovely series about people born and bred in the High Peak which is also being published in Derbyshire Life magazine.

I'm also a podcast and audiobook addict...please post any recommendations.

bump to baby

I'm flattered to have been asked to take part in the Bump to Baby Fair at Alexandra Palace in London on 12th September.

It's in aid of Tommy's - a charity which funds scientific research to make sure babies are born healthy.

I'll also be at:

Chilterns Craft Fair, Stonor Park (Henley-on-Thames) from Friday 28 - Monday 31st August.

Hassop Hall Seasonal Fayre, Derbyshire Committee for Macmillan Cancer on Thursday 15th October.

And last but not least Saturday 5th December - We Make London Chelsea Christmas Fair (Chelsea Old Town Hall, London).

Please do come along - it'd be lovely to meet you.

designer chick

I love how Jump magazine have used my 'Izzy Whizzy' top and culottes for their summer 'farmyard fashion' spread under the heading of 'Designer Chick'. The red Liberty floral check (called 'Millie') looks super cute.

I'm now doing this outfit from 6-12m up to 2-3 years. (£34.99-£39.99) The culottes have a comfy elasticated waist and are cut to fit over nappies.

I'll soon be launching a boy's 'Peak Prince' version with a slimmer cut on the leg. They'll be called 'Charlie Mouse' culottes after our friends' Tim and Angela's little boy.

no place like home

How exciting to be featured in this month's issue of Home Business magazine. (P.S. I've just made up a sample for a customer of one of my new autumn/winter long sleeve 'Freya Bean' blouses in this beautiful blue Liberty 'Tatum' print).

new autumn/winter liberty range

In between summer showers my beautiful god-daughter Tilly managed to get out in the garden to model my autumn/winter Liberty print blouses and dresses...This is an 'Anya Rose' shift in Liberty's 'Martha Grace' baby cord with box pleat and velvet trim.

This is my 'Bella Luella' baby dress with long sleeves for colder days in Liberty 'Wiltshire' print.

My new 'Freya Bean' blouses are already proving popular. This is Liberty's 'Little Mari' print with a blue velvet ribbon trimming the hem. (The screwed up nose is a trademark Tilly pose!)

This is a gorgeous autumnal Liberty print called 'Phoebe' - this is a little long on Tilly who's a wee little thing. And below is her Mum's favourite print - a paisley called 'Mark'. Later on I patched Tilly's jeans with this.

...They'll be available online from the end of August but please do email me (mail@peakprincess.co.uk) if you'd like to order samples before then.

new freya bean blouses

My new Peak Princess Liberty prints - Mark, Little Mari, Phoebe, Tatum and Wiltshire

These are the samples of my new Freya Bean blouse which I'll be doing in a long-sleeve version for autumn/winter with velvet ribbon trim and short sleeved for spring.

Fab with jeans when your little princess is in more smock than frock mood.

I love these Liberty Tana Lawn prints. I'm carrying through the Wiltshire Berries as it's so popular and will look gorgeous at Christmas parties. The Tatum is a rich brown/pink version of the blue that's been a big hit this summer.

They'll team up with a denim shift with matching Liberty lining, pocket trim and inverted box pleat. (photos coming soon)

I love the Little Mari but then that might be my Dutch Delft Blue-ness coming through.

Questions - Ric-rac or ribbon? To trim or not to trim? Trim on the neckline/sleeves? Buttons on the neckline? Three-quarter-length sleeves to avoid mucky sleeve ends at dinner time or full length? Please send me your thoughts by blog comment or email (mail@peakprincess.co.uk)

AW 09/10 available from the end of August but do contact me direct if you would like to buy preview samples.

the real bella luella

Here's a sneak preview of my new 'Freya Bean' Liberty blouse.

It's being modelled by Luella. Her Mum Sarah is the design brains behind Nostalchick - sweet as cherry pie greetings cards.

The autumn/winter version will have long sleeves and come in four beautiful Liberty prints including 'Wiltshire' berries and a chocolate brown version of 'Tatum'. Perfect to go with jeans. For special occasions I'm designing a demim dress with matching Liberty print trims and lining.

All of my designs are named after my friend's children. Luella is the inspiration for my 'Bella Luella' Liberty print puff sleeve baby dress (£39.99) which has been a real hit. I'll be continuing the dress with long sleeves for autumn/winter.

The new blouse is named after friend's little girl, Freya, who's patiently helped me with modelling and fittings.

I'm planning a long occasion wear dress called 'Caty Beth' perfect for bridesmaids and confirmations for next year which will be named in honour of her sister Caitlin. The denim shift will be named after their little sister, 'Anya Rose'.

twittering

I've signed up to twitter at last (this is the profile pic I'm using of me hard at work).

And I've been accepted as a seller on notmassproduced.com which is a wonderful gift website for handcrafted goods.

To top it off the website Take Inspiration have published an interview with me about how and why I set Peak Princess up.

buttons and bonne maman

Mum's been up so we've had a sewing fest. I've asked if she will start buying 'Bonne Maman' jam - not just because it's the best jam in the world, in the prettiest red gingam jars but also because the tops are lovely and wide which means that you don't have to tip all of your buttons out every time you want to use them.

It's also a marvellous excuse to buy delicious Wild Blueberry jam. (I prefer the French name of 'myrtilles sauvages' which always makes me laugh as I think the savage berries will jump out and attack.)

I'm also delighted because I've finally found a local button manufacturer & dyer - a family firm called Charles Singleton in Sheffield. I'm very much hoping I'll be able to use some of their lovely buttons on my autumn/winter samples.

Speaking of which...I've just made up an autumn/winter preview sample of my forthcoming pleat shift dress in Liberty baby cord for my friend's little girl Issy (who the 'Izzy Whizzy' top and culottes are named after). Photos to follow...

And thank you to everyone who I met at Thornbridge Hall's Summer Charity Garden Party on Sunday. The sun shone.

liberty cars

This is a sneak preview of my new baby romper. The boy's Peak Prince version ('baby beau') comes in this adorable Liberty cars print.

The Peak Princess version will be called 'baby belle' and will be available in the full range of spring/summer and soon autumn/winter colours.

technical technorati-ness

...this is an experiment to try and 'claim' my blog on technorati, the blog search engine.

Here goes...

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a Liberty print of Liberty of London

How wonderful is this? We went to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition for my Mum's 70th birthday and this was the first picture I saw. It's called Liberty of London by Samuel Hubbard It was serendipity and I'll hang it in my sewing room. I love it.

northern belles, liberty belles and baby belles

Saturday's school fair at Buxworth was a delight - sunshine all day and my friend Sally was up from London to help out on the stall. Her daughter Issy is the inspiration behind my Izzy Whizzy baby top and culottes set.

I also met Kate and her daughter Emily of Emily Pickle fame. Check out her range of handmade lovelinesses. She kindly invited me to blog on Northernbelles Crafts.

The little red headed dollies on the stall are Jellycat Liberty Belles wearing 'Ros' print dresses which match my spring/summer collection. My sister-in-law, Sophie, is the design brains at Jellycat. I also have Liberty Bunnies in 'Tatum' and 'Nancy Ann' prints which are super sweet. I used them during my photo shoot and the three sisters who modelled the dresses loved them.

And 'Baby Belle' is the name for my new romper suit that I'm designing for baby girls. I'll also be doing a 'Baby Beau' version for little boys in Liberty's new car print which is just adorable. Pictures coming soon.