Mother's Day gift ideas

Mother's Day is fast approaching (31st March in the UK) and I'm always thinking of new ideas for Mother's Day gifts in my store. When I went to the Knitting and Stitching show on Sunday, I picked up some rather scrumptious Chinese satin damask fabric and thought it would make the perfect fabric for one of my clutch bags. I love these fabrics as the colours are so vibrant and they sit next to my kimono fabrics rather nicely!

I gravitated towards the butterfly motif which is a symbol of long life in China, as well as representing young, undying love. If two butterflies are seen flying together they are regarded as the perfect emblem of love.

The fabric will be made up into clutch bags rather like the one below.

I love the vibrant pink of this clutch bag and used a lovely turquoise lining to contrast with the outer fabric.

Each clutch bag has a detachable chain strap that can be removed or simply tucked inside the bag.

The clutch is big enough to fit all the essentials for a night out and makes the perfect gift for Mother's Day.

Shop Now

Mary Katrantzou

As a textile designer myself, Mary Katrantzou is a fashion designer who truly inspires me. She has been dubbed 'The Queen of Print' and incorporates stunning print and colour into all of her collections using digital printing, an eclectic mix of fabrics, and design inspiration from around the world. On Sunday I visited Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, the opulent home of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, where there is currently a temporary exhibition in the Stables, called Creatures and Creations. 

The exhibition includes some of the works of Mary Katrantzou and the exhibition shows an amalgamation of fashion, digital art and animal specimens inspired by Rothschild's collection of natural history.

Each of the three dresses were inspired by birds and butterflies and use stunning colour combined with digital print and layers of varying fabrics and beads to create beautiful items.

The Delias dress above is a triple-tiered and pleated lame corset dress with tulle underskirts and pleated lame and tulle butterfly on the breast.

The Alexandra dress above is printed crepe with a velvet neck insert, embroidered with Swarovski crystals, sequins and bugle beads using lurex thread, with heat-transferred crystal motifs.

The Papillon dress above is a printed tulle gown embroidered with sequins and bugle beads, with eleven layers of tulle underskirts.

Fabric Friday

There's nothing like a spot of hot pink and tumultuous turquoise to brighten your day! I bought these two stunning fabrics last week and can't wait to make them up into some gloriously bright clutch bags. They both have a butterfly motif and each will be given a suitably bright lining to compliment the outer fabric.

The turquoise blue clutch bag will have a hot pink lining.

The hot pink clutch bag will have a bright turquoise blue lining.

These fabrics match a bag that I already have in my store. It's a beautiful emerald green fabric and also has a butterfly motif. You can find it here.

Applique cushion project

My lovely nieces came to stay last night and it was the perfect opportunity to do a little crafty project with them. Last time we made peg dolls and this time we made appliqué cushions. We designed the shapes and then drew them onto paper-backed bondaweb which makes the shapes easier to cut out. You can them peal the paper off and iron them onto the backing. I quickly ran round the edges of the main shapes with the sewing machine and then I sewed the cushion squares together to make up the cushions. It was a fun way to spend a sunny Sunday morning.

They both chose a motif they wanted to do and then chose the fabrics they liked.

 Lila chose a butterfly motif made out of Japanese cottons.

 Flo chose a selection of hearts made from polka dot fabrics.