New Designs, New Times

I thought I'd share some of the new designs I've been working on lately in between caring for my three boys, making stock for Blighty Bazaar and studying to improve my digital design skills.

This is a design I worked on for some time before I got it exactly right. It's proved really popular and is a regular on the sewing room table. 

I made purses, gadget cases, pencil cases, bags and storage baskets in this design. 

I'm currently panicking about what I will do when I run out of the brown spot fabric! 

This fun spring design is a playful one, aimed at children. Many of my designs are childlike, simple in form and use bright, fun fabrics. 

My twins son's got some of those fantastic personalised pencil sets for their Birthday, where each pencil is embossed with their name. 

We ended up with a scuffle every time they wanted to draw with their pencils as they all got mixed up. So I made them each a pencil case with their name on. These turned out much better than I had anticipated and I will be making these to order via my Folksy site. www.folksy.com/shops/thepeartreeboutique

I found some really cute Riley Blake fabric featuring retro mix tapes and it took me on a trip down memory lane. Of making tapes for my friends, receiving them from boyfriends and doodling fantastic cardboard covers for them. I can't tell you what my personal series of tapes was called - it's too rude! But the aim was to create a series to rival the NOW series. Of course I lost interest after about 5 tapes...

Why I haven't been about much...

I've written and re-written this post, shelved it and deleted it many times over the last few months. 

So I'm just going to do it quickly and post-n-run so to speak. 

I haven't had much time to devote to The Peartree Boutique in the last year. 

Mostly this is because my husband and I separated last summer and I left with the kids to start a new life near to where I grew up. 

I'm still adjusting to changes, having up days and down days and trying to give myself time to get to know myself again. 

So please bear with me, I will hopefully be back on form soon and bringing you new Peartree loveliness. 

Sam xx

Thank you!

I'd like to extend a big thank you to everyone who was kind enough to donate to my fundraising page in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity. 

As promised, all the names of those who donated were entered into a draw and a winner picked at random. I'm pleased to announce that the winner is......Fleur Maxwell-Middle! 

Well done Fleur, your little froggie will be winging his way to you tomorrow. 

For a good cause

Today I reached 1000 likers on Facebook! Yesterday I was hovering around the 993 mark and yet this morning I was on 1005! 
After some pondering as to how to mark this milestone, I decided that I wanted to do something a little different from the norm. 
Most people do a 'giveaway' or a special offer for their customers, but I'm trying to explore this social media lark and thought I'd go down a different route and involve some fundraising for charity at the same time. 


I made a very limited edition Jubilee Beanbag Frog which I am offering as a prize to one person that donates to my cause on Just Giving. 

The cause is The Prostate Cancer Charity, which I am supporting because my Father in law has prostate cancer, and having 3 boys I am keen to raise awareness of this disease and the charity working so hard to support sufferers. 

You can donate by clicking on the link to the right of this page. Please give what you can to help this fantastic charity. 

What's in a bag?

Some of you may be familiar with a prop I use a lot in my product photography - my faithful old leather satchel. 

This is a bag with history. 

I bought this satchel from a car boot sale in Warwick in 2002 for the unbelievable price of 50p! 

It had been well used, although remained in fairly good condition and had been inscribed with the name of the previous owner. The fabulously named Tristen Tinder-Sparks. 

I used the bag for my college stuff as I was studying Art & Design at the time. It became further adorned with doodles, apple stickers and my name, written inside in green sparkly gel pen. 

My beloved satchel went everywhere with me, and took the strain of heavy sketch books, tins of pencils, my sewing box, pliers and many other various tools of the student. The strap gave under the strain, but I tied it up with string and continued to use it. 

Eventually, after I had finished college and didn't need such a big bag to carry around, my satchel became the home for my very important documents such as certificates and policies. 

Since I started www.thepeartreeboutique.co.uk I have used it as a photo prop in my product shots. 

Today saw the arrival of my new satchel bag!! It's from http://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/ and I absolutely love it!! 

After it arrived I immediately transferred my handbag clobber to my new bag so I could take it on it's first outing to collect my twins and go to the park. 

I got to thinking about all the things we carry round in our bags each day and what it says about our lifestyle. so I am considering doing a section on the contents of my bag. Perhaps a weekly thing? 

So , today my bag contains: 

1. A Potette portable potty and spare liners, antibacterial wipes and toddler wipes. 

2. My filofax

3. My brown leather purse for personal use.

4. My white leather purse for the family budget

5. My weekly copy of Grazia magazine

6. An apple

7. My white iphone

8. A pack of Fink conversational cards for the kids

9. The unopened post

10. Blister pack of paracetamol

11. Burts Bees lip balm 

I'm interested to hear about the contents of your day bags - from the mundane to the unusual! Please do leave a comment below. 

Boys can sew too!

I have 3 boys and have always tried to teach them skills that they might find useful, and not necessarily bound by gender stereotypes. 
They are all developing into independent young people with a broad skill base and I hope, an understanding that men and women are both equal in all aspects of life. 


My youngest two boys have just turned 3 and have seen me sewing and creating for the whole of their lives. 
I haven't wanted to push them to try their hand at a creative art, but when they do show an interest I love to share with them.  


This is my son Zakk with a felt hand puppet that he made by sewing with wool, around the edge of a felt shape that had been pre-punched with holes for the stitches. 

He was so pleased with his handiwork and took it into pre-school to show the other children what he had made. 

His twin brother Maxx wasn't interested in sewing a hand puppet until Easter, when Grandma gave them some Easter themed hand puppet kits. These kits sparked his interest and he had a go too. 

I love that they feel so proud of what they have made! 

Paper journals forever!

New range of embroidered products at The Peartree Boutique

Available from my Folksy shop http://folksy.com/items/3124498-Mini-Beasts-Fabric-Covered-Notebook-A5-Custom-Embroidered-with-Name-or-Title