William and Kate, Baby Fever - Channel 5.

Not only have we sold items to for potential use on Eastenders but earlier this month we were shown on Channel 5's programme on babies and Will and Kate and baby fever.  Thanks to Liz of babye for showing our Litttle Swan items and for explaining how they focus on fine fabrics for little ones.  She also explained that Little Swans items are specifically designed for boys and or girls using both modern and stereotypical expectations of gender development.

I love boys in pretty clothes and do not hide the fact that we have a very early boy doll (physically complete) who is kitted out in his original peach coloured clothing which we purchased for my daughter who had no brother until she was 9 years old.   Sadly our little man (grandson) does not want to play with him - give Milo a bin men lorry any day....and that choice is not adult led.

Nature or nurture - I just think they should be able to experience all tastes so our boys and girls wear is versatile   Flowers for boys and jets for girls...  Whatever you want we can supply.

Cars for Christmas is our flagship fabric.

It is that time of year at Little Swans

Not Bonfire Night Yet but getting the red nose ready for this year's celebrations.

Cars, one of the wonderful Liberty London Art Fabrics will be the Little Swans flagship fabric for this Christmas and a new selection of baby items will be on sale with babye from early next month.

Also we have just completed our first two hobby horses in Liberty Art Fabrics.  They are so nice they have both got homes already.  A Pink based horse for a lucky little lady in Essex whose Mummy has her own  horse already and a blue one for a little chap in Suffolk who showed his keenness to ride a horse with a metre measuring stick the other morning.  No photo sorry... Use your imagination as obviously he did.



For those of you already thinking about buying those long life gifts here is a quick peak at the prototype.  Thanks to Tom my daughter's wonderful friend who is a fantastic carpenter and spent so much time working with me to get the style and cut of the 'hobby' just right for our 18mth to 3/4 year olds.

 I have noticed that the horse's lovely blue eye is hidden by his main and I will deal with this for future photos - cant having our horses not seeing where they are going especially with such young riders.  Hay ho.or Neigh Nonny nonny.
Back to making....

Thank you for shopping with Babye

As readers are aware Little Swans was created around the time of the birth of our little man, and for the first twelve months or so we made items for friends and family and tried and tested items for sale.  At the end of 2011 'babye' invited us to sell our items through their Ealing shop and in February 2012 our first items were offered for sale.

Six months later..... !!

It's a big big thank you to all 'babye', Ealing,  customers, who have over the last six months showed a growing loyalty to the Little Swans Brand.

We have had phenomenal success.  We doubled our  sales from March to May 2012 and have doubled them again between June and August 2012.  This is wonderful and we are most grateful.  Thank you.  

The essential aim of Little Swans is to produce items which are baby focussed and individually made, locally by the founders of Little Swans.  At this time this means made in London, Norwich or Southwold depending on family commitments.  Our items have been designed by a mother and a grandmother to be beautiful and practical, and to be developed without loosing sight of the need for all babies to be supported and encouraged to meet their potential.

Following on from our success via babye we are delighted to advise that we have just delivered our first Liberty Art Fabric items to The Little Shop which is owned by Collen and Clare and is in Southwold.  This shop offers a delightful range of items for babies and children - please see their website for further information.  

As a consequence Little Swans current priority is in providing sufficient individually made wonderful Liberty Art Fabric items to meet growing need.  We will, therefore,  be leaving our little shop closed for the time being.

Please remember that I will be happy to talk to all callers interested in purchasing our baby and mother/carer items or in discussing new items or commissions for nursery items e.g. Moses baskets; hobby horses; soft knitted toys.

Thanks again all of you who have contributed to making our first six months a huge success.  

Bathing Baby and Working with Mum and Dad

Working with mum and dad is an essential part of growing up, and the joy of bathing a new baby or making food for grandma (Little Swans have a vested interest as we love cooking - especially with chocolate) are just two ideas for our wonderful 'working together' clothes,  which Little Swans have delivered to Babye, Ealing this month.  

This wonderful range was originally designed to help keep little ones dry when helping with the care of baby siblings e.g. bathing baby.  The range includes a full length, two sided tabard in Liberty Art Fabrics with a practical waterproof liner. The garment has been designed to have a front and back which can be reversed. This tabard is coordinated with a full length apron for adults.  The Liberty Art Fabric adult apron has a full size waterproof liner and is supplied with a detachable corsage embellishment.

We were so delighted with the success of this range of aprons that we determined to extend the range by adding a more stereotypically masculine version for our little ones.  As a result we have created a macho version, a carpenters apron which is fastened at the waist and has three huge pockets to keep baby's bath accessories or little one's hammer and screwdriver in, depending on the activity at hand. Keeping to the more 'masculine' theme we have made the first of these carpenter's aprons in Tom's Jets, Liberty Art Fabric.  

Little Swan's is about coordinating Liberty Fabrics so we have also delivered a small number of our other ranges in mustard and grey Tom's Jets.

Pop along to Babye to see what's new in the Little Swan range or view their website for online shopping.

Buzzy Buzzy Buzzy Bees

With the fine weather over the last few days Little Swans have been focussing on our stock management processes and enthusiastically building up new relationships ready for our Autumn collections.  

We have just delivered the first instalment of our Summer 2012 collection to babye in Ealing, London.  For the first time we have matching headbands for all ladies 0-99 years. Originally we only made very large bow bands for Mummy's upon individual request but babye have asked for our head bands in three sizes - birth to toddler; toddler to child; child to adult.  They are on a universal band so although the designs and bow sizes differ the bands do fit universally. Also to give ladies a range of options the bow on their headband is moveable and re-movable.  For safety reasons the bands for younger females have fixed bows.

Babye have a good range of bibs, toy catchers, changing pads and waterproof 'hold it together' bags.  They have been made to co-ordinate in three Liberty Art Fabrics, Pepper (Red, White and Blue palate); Pepper (Pink and white palate) and Keiko (Aqua and Violet palate).  

We are in production on our latest lines for the males in the family - Liberty Art Fabric Bow Ties.  We will be supplying babye with our new bow-ties in the next few weeks ready for sale later in June 2012.  We are making bow-ties for: - babies to toddlers and toddlers to child's sizes.  We are currently testing the market and fine tuning the final product but pictures will be available to entice you next week.  We have not made bow ties for men but will do this on commission only, at this time.

If you are able to pop into babye please do so, they will be pleased to see you.  If not why not google them and see our items coming on line on their website over the next few months.

Remember if you have a desire for any item for a baby which Liberty fabric can produce please ring us and talk with us - we are keen to take on new ideas and commissions at any time.

Please ask for Nangela on 07 540 420 365.

Would you believe it - its just started to rain....

Little Lent...How appropriate, it's Heavenly Headbands

Planning for a wedding day means paying attention to the littlest of details.  From table favours, to boutonnieres, to dressing your favourite Flower girls, an eye for detail is desired.  With friends and family recently enjoying their nuptials, we have been commissioned to make bridesmaid dresses, wedding favours and accessories for flower girls.

Breaking away from the more traditional flower circle, or tiara, we now bring to you our range of Heavenly Headbands.  Priced at a Little Swans steal of £6. (and with free postage and packing for Lent, with code, LENT), all headbands are made with Liberty Art Fabric and are adorned with a gorgeous and stylish bow.

The Heavenly Headbands fit most head sizes, from toddlers to adults and can be worn for parties, weddings, or allowing yourself a bit of everyday glamour!
Mosey on over to the Little Swans Little Shop for more details and to snap up a style.

Love from,

Little Swans

Little Swans Little Sacks

Little Swans Little Sacks are a vital component of every organised nappy bag, sports bag, weekend bag, or hand bag. 

The waterproof lining in all Little Swans Little Sacks means that keeping soiled, or damp items separate from the other items in your bag is easy.  Made with the stunning and chic Liberty Art Fabrics an starting at £9., the Little Swans Little Sacks would make a beautiful gift for a loved one or simply some retail therapy for yourself!

Little Swans Little Sack - Turqouise - £12.

The Little Swans Little Sacks vary in size as each on is individually made by hand in London, England, with most bags being sizes at approximately 20 cms in length.

Little Swans Little Sack - Millie- £9.

Little Swans Little Sack - Elysian- £12.

All of the Little Swans Little Sacks are available for sale in the Little Swans Little Shop and commissions can be taken if you would prefer the Little Sacks in any of our new fabrics.  Contact us for further information.

Love from,

Little Swans

Little Snuggly Swans

Little Swans are launching a range of Moses Baskets made in Liberty Art Fabric.  The baskets are a traditional size and shape, with a hood and small pad.  The basket lining and hood are made with Liberty Art Fabric, pictured below is Pelagia, but can be commissioned in a wide range of fabrics.  A fantastic idea for a group gift for a friend's Baby Shower, from work colleagues, or simply style-savvy parents who are keen to make sure that their baby has the most stylish start in life.

The Pelagia is priced at £95. which includes the basket.  Postage and packing is on application.

Please contact us for more information about commissions, or visit the Little Swans Little Shop to snap up Pelagia.

Love from,

Little Swans

Little Laurent

Waterproof-backed bib made in Liberty Art Fabric Tana Lawn Laurent Pink, with a metal popper fastening, as modelled by 18 month old Ruby.  This bib is available for sale, from the Little Swans Little Shop and qualifies for free postage and packing!

Little Swans Snaps

Here are a few pictures destined for the Little Swans Little Shop, which show off our waterproof-backed bibs to their best effect.  Baby M is now fifteen months young and has been sporting his Little Swans bandana bibs since he was a couple of months old.

Liberty Art Fabric, Chilterns Tana Lawn, £10.99 and Free P and P 

Liberty Art Fabric, Turquoise Tana Lawn, £10.99 and Free P and P  

Liberty Art Fabric, Pepper (Blue) Tana Lawn, £10.99 and Free P and P  

Liberty Art Fabric, Amelia's Flowers (Blue and Red) Tana Lawn,

£10.99 and Free P and P

To purchase our bibs, visit the Little Swans Little Shop.

All of our photographs have been filtered using the Instagram application for the iPhone, a fantastic tool for creating beautiful photographs to share.

Love from,

Little Swans

Little Snowy Swans

Like most of the country today, Little Swans awoke to a winter wonderland, with a thick carpet of snow covering the outdoors.  Memories of cold days, with feet wet from the snow melting in your wellies and gloves soaking through, to freeze snowman-making mitts.

To counteract the winter freeze, we set to with the oven at full blast to master the humble chocolate cake.  We used the following recipe, cooking the cake at 170 degrees for just over half an hour...

For the chocolate sponge, we used this recipe:

• 175g (6oz) butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• 175g (6oz) self-raising flour
• 50g (2oz) cocoa powder
• 1tsp baking powder
• ½tsp vanilla extract

 

We sliced the cake in two and added creamy frosting to the centre and the topping, using the following:

• 200g (8oz) icing sugar
• 50g (2oz) cocoa powder
• 200g (8oz) butter
• 1tbsp milk
• 1tsp vanilla extract

Now, this was my first foray into the world of grown-up cake making.  Fairy cakes, I can make, they pose no problems.  In fact, I learnt how to make them alongside a group of eleven year olds, so I should hope I can master them.  Grown-up big cakes have always intimidated me!  Fear be gone!  Today's chocolate masterpiece has awoken a new passion.  I fear that I will be making this chocolate wonder often and the old adage of a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips, may be ringing in my head... 

Thankfully Lent is on the horizon, saving my muffin top from a reappearance, but for now, it's time to wrap up in the warmth, watch the snow melting outside and enjoy a slow and painless death by chocolate...

Love from,

Little Swans

P.S. Need something to warm your cockles?  Follow the link to the Little Swans Little Shop...

Little Swans Little Shop

Little Swans are delighted to announce that the Little Swans Little Shop is now open for business!  Get ready to indulge in some retail therapy!  No queues, no car parking, no worries, the Little Swans Little Shop is stocked up with luxurious, yet durable items for babies and toddlers that are individually made by hand here in sunny snowy London.


Our waterproof-backed bandana bibs are made with Liberty Art Fabrics, tried and tested on the youngest generation of the Little Swans family.  The Little Swines and Little Teds, detailed with Liberty Art Fabrics, are already populating the smartest of nurseries across the country; we predict an outbreak of Little Swine Fever! 
Prices for our Little Swans bibs start at £10.99 and our Little Teds start at £12.


Happy Shopping to all our Little Swans friends,


Love from,


Little Swans

Little Teds

Not wanting our Little Swines to feel too lonely out there in their sty, we set off for the great outdoors and made friends with a family of Little Teds.

Daddy Keiko is pictured below.  Made of the softest wool, with Liberty Art Fabric detailing on the ears and paws, Daddy Keiko measures 30 cm in length and will make the perfect addition to any bedroom.  Daddy Keiko is pictured here in our Little Swans of London Moses Basket made with Liberty Art Fabrics.

Little Ted Daddy Keiko Bear: £17.

Daddy Keiko is a busy bear, looking after Baby Teds: Baby Fairford and Baby Keiko:

Little Ted Fairford,

made with Bamboo and Silk,

Liberty Art Fabric detailing,

£12.

Little Ted Keiko,

made with Bamboo and Silk,

Liberty Art Fabric detailing,

£12.

All of our Little Teds are available to buy in our Little Shop.  Perfect for birthdays, christenings, bahmitzvahs, Valentine's Day, any day!

Love from,

Little Swans

Little Swines of London

Hot off the production line is our perfect piggy.  Made in the softest bamboo wool, so baby can have a scratch-free snuggle, our piggy measures approximately 20 cm in length.  Pig's beauty is further accentuated with Liberty of London detailing on the ears, to match neatly with Little Swines Swans of London products.

You can take home the bacon for £12.  Complete with your choice of ribbon colour.

Email us at littleswansoflondon@gmail.com for more details or follow the link to our Shop to fill up your goody basket!

Ship-pig-ing for Pig is £3.00 within the UK.

Perfect Piggy - Only £12.

Love from,

Little Swans

Happy New Year!

Welcoming in 2012, Little Swans are developing a range our staple items (waterproof bandana bibs, toy catchers, waterproof drawstring bags and change mats) in a number of new Liberty of London fabrics. Find a sneaky peek at our 2012 fabrics below:

 Strawberry Thief

 Honeymoon

 Fairford

 Pelagia

 Keiko

 Mauvernia (Blue and Purple)

 Mauvernia (Pink and Purple)

Pepper (Orange)

Happing browsing!

Don't forget to visit our "Etsy" shop for our current stock. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littleswansoflondon

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and handmade New Year,

Love from,

Little Swans