From Scottish Skies to Wild Rowan: The Story Behind My New Fabric Collection

Before I get into the story behind the collection, here’s a closer look at some of the little details that make up the designs.

In Afterlight, look out for stars in all different shapes and sizes, crescent moons, planets, constellations, soft clouds and tiny scattered star fields. I loved mixing bold celestial motifs with much finer details, then layering them over deep, inky blues to create a night sky that feels full of depth.

In Wild Rowan, you’ll find clusters of rowan berries and leaves surrounded by loose flowers, dots, lines and hand drawn botanical marks. One of my favourite details is the tiny five pointed star at the base of each rowan berry, a detail taken straight from nature that became a really important part of the finished design.

There’s lots to discover in both prints, so have a little flick through the details and see what you can spot!

Looking Up: Afterlight

Afterlight began with the Scottish night sky.
I wanted to capture that feeling of looking upwards on a really dark night and gradually seeing more as your eyes adjust.

There's the first bright star that catches your attention, then suddenly you notice another, and another, until you realise just how much is going on above you.

I played with that idea throughout the design.

Warm golden stars, moons, planets and clouds sit against layers of deep navy and blue. Some elements are crisp and bright while others fade much further into the background, with tiny scattered star fields filling the spaces between them.

I wanted the finished print to have real depth and I think the light and dark tones under the gold details achieves this!

Capturing Changing Light

The base fabric became part of that idea too.
Afterlight is printed onto a 100% viscose twill sateen, which has the most gorgeous fluid drape and a subtle sheen across its surface.

As the fabric moves, it catches the light.

That felt absolutely perfect for this print. The golden celestial details almost seem to appear and disappear as the cloth moves, giving the design another layer of depth.

It's also beautifully swishy, which was really important to me because ultimately these fabrics are designed to become clothes.

Looking Closer: Wild Rowan

While Afterlight had me looking upwards, Wild Rowan came from looking much closer at the landscape itself. I became really interested in rowan trees and their connection with Scottish folklore.

Visually, there was already so much to work with. Clusters of colourful berries, leaves, twisting botanical shapes and all those natural variations you find when you stop looking at a plant as one thing and start noticing its individual details.

Then I spotted something tiny that became one of my favourite parts of the whole collection.

At the base of a rowan berry is a little five pointed star. - I loved it!

I already had stars appearing throughout Afterlight, and suddenly here was another one occurring completely naturally within the landscape.

So I made sure those tiny stars found their way into the Wild Rowan design too.

Developing Wild Rowan

As the print developed, we layered those rowan berries and foliage with hand drawn botanical shapes, fine lines and textural marks. I wanted there to be plenty to discover without the overall print becoming too busy.

I then explored different colour directions and eventually arrived at two versions that I couldn't choose between. So, naturally, I kept both!

Navy Wild Rowan combines bright red berries and fresh greens with a rich navy and blue background.

Burgundy Wild Rowan takes the same design in a warmer direction, with vibrant pink berries and green foliage against deep burgundy.

It's amazing how different the same artwork can feel simply through changing the colours.

Experimenting With Texture

I also wanted to play with the base cloths for this collection. Afterlight and Burgundy Wild Rowan are both printed onto our fluid viscose twill sateen, giving them that subtle lustre and gorgeous movement.

Navy Wild Rowan is different.

It's printed onto a 100% viscose jacquard, with a subtle design woven directly into the fabric underneath the print.

From further away, your eye is drawn to the berries and botanical print. Then the fabric moves or catches the light and suddenly you notice this second layer sitting underneath.

I love that it continues the idea running through the collection of discovering more when you look closer.

Designing Fabrics for Dressmaking

Something I'm always thinking about during this process is how the fabric will actually behave once we sew with it. A print can look beautiful on a computer screen or laid completely flat, but that's not where it's going to end up.

I want to imagine it gathered into a sleeve, falling through a dress or moving as someone walks. That's why the combination of print and base cloth matters so much.

The fluid viscose bases in this collection allow the designs to move, drape and change as they're worn. Details disappear into folds and then reappear as the fabric moves, which gives the prints a completely different life once they're made into clothes.

I’ve loved seeing this collection come together, from those first little ideas and drawings to the finished designs ready to become part of your handmade wardrobe.

I hope knowing a little more about the story behind Afterlight and Wild Rowan makes them feel even more special when you sew with them. Most of all, I can’t wait to see where you take the designs next and the beautiful things you create with them.

Happy sewing!