The Nutcracker

Here's a little taster of what I designed for Makower Christmas 2026. It's called The Nutcracker and is inspired by the nutcracker ballet, using a sweet stylised look.

The main print is called Fairytale and I've included the sugar plum fairy, various nutcrackers as well as the mouse king, mixed with Christmas trees, gingerbread men, foliage and musical instruments.

The Soldiers design looks great on a deep red background and stylised Foliage elements look great on a dark green background.

The collection has a folkloric style to it and the Sugar plum design incorporates all sorts of elements, such as rocking horses and Christmas trees, in a tightly packed layout.

The Fairytale design looks great on this dark blue background.

A Candy Cane Stripe adds an extra co-ordinating print to the group.

The colour combo of this Sugar Plum design shouts Christmas with its vibrant reds and deep greens.

A tiny tonal star is a nice colour carrier and great for using in Christmas projects as a backing to a quilt or binding for placemats.

The nutcracker Soldiers stand to attention on the cream background.

Green stars complement the red version and are another way of adding colour to the collection.

I also designed an advent calendar for this collection. The central image uses motifs from the collection in a folk, mirrored style

This advent is a great Christmas project. The pockets must be cut out individually and sewn around the central image. They can then be filled with chocolates and sweets.

 

Adorn

Now that Christmas 2025 is over, look at what I've designed for Christmas 2026! These designs were created for Makower UK for a collection called Adorn. It includes decorative elements such as sarasas, scrolls and stars, combined with foliage in a rich red, cream and green colour palette, and topped off with metallic gold touches.

This beautifully decorative design is called Bloom and is inspired by traditional sarasa patterns. It also includes festive foliage elements such as holly, berries and stylised Christmas roses. This design also comes in a cream version, a red version and a burgundy version.

This Star design incorporates decorative star motifs surrounded by a decorative metallic gold scrolls which gives it a lot of bling! Also available in green and cream.

You can't have a Christmas design without a Holly print. This one includes berries and trailing leaves in a traditional Christmas colour palette. Also available on a green ground and a burgundy ground.

This Garland Stripe is a great way of adding binding to a quilting project or for using as handles for a tote bag, or edging to a table runner. Also available in cream and burgundy.

The Sparkle print is lovely and bright and a great addition to the group. There are a mixture of metallic gold stars mixed in with tonal stars and a tonal background. Also available in cream and green.

The Ornament print consists of a crowded bauble design. Each bauble is highly decorative, with metallic gold to add some drama. Also available on a green background and a burgundy background.