Although I have called these little squares of muslin ‘wash cloths’, there are more versatile than just cloths to wash your face and body. Since using these products for a variety of roles, and hearing how you lovely customers use them too, I have created a little list of 6 uses for these mighty muslins:

1. Wash cloth – muslin is a great material to softly exfoliate with, removing dead skin cells and impurities without harming your skin itself. It is one of the reasons why muslin is great for eczema sufferers, as it gently removes the dead skin cells, allowing for better absorption of skincare treatments

2. Sweat band alternative – a number of customers have bought these for family holidays. Great to have in your pocket when hiking, or running, as they wick away sweat easily, and will exfoliate and remove dirt at the same time. One added bonus- they dry quickly too, so they won’t be damp in your pocket for long. Great at the gym as a mini gym towel alternative, or your wipe down cloth

3. Mini muslin – for the on-the-go days when out and about, they are fab to have in your pocket for quick and unexpected uses. Whether your baby has dribbled and needs a quick wipe, or you want a clean surface to put a snack down on, they are a great size to fit into your pockets

4. Handkerchief - they are a soft alternative to the standard cotton ones, being kind on your skin

5. Face cloth -  For the same reason as using the wash cloth for your body, they are great at softly exfoliating your skin. I use my muslin cloth with the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish hot cloth cleanser, as it is a fun patterned alternative to their muslins when using the product. They are also a great substitute for flannels, as they dry super quick!

6. Cleaning glasses – great for the dinner party set up, they polish dry glasses fantastically to give that great shine! (It doesn’t have quite the same effect when the glass is wet though)
 
I think it’s time I changed the name of this product..… but whatever your use for the muslin cloths may be, don’t forget to wash them regularly too!

The 15th August. A date I will never forget, with a heartbeat skipped in sadness every year it comes back around.
This year I want to do something special on it, partly as it falls on a Monday again, partly as it is the 5-year mark, and partly because life should be treasured, and I want to make sure others don’t go through what my family had to that day and afterwards.

On Monday 15th August 2011, my dad unexpectedly died on the 17th hole of the golf course he was senior captain of, aged 56. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) were there within minutes. In pretty much any other situation that would be a life saved or at least a fighting chance, but with sudden death there is nothing you can do.

From Friday 12th – Thursday 18th August 2016 I will be donating 50% of profits from all orders to the HIOWAA as a way to remember my dad, and to support the air ambulance that tried to save him.

The Air Ambulance are a fast response team, called every day for many types of incidents, often lifesaving. It costs in excess of £230,000 per month to maintain their life-saving service – approximately £7,500 per day. They are solely funded by us, the community, and have no government funding whatsoever. This was a shock when I first found out, and now I want to make sure that they stay in the air for all of us so they can help others. I want to bring to the attention of as many people as possible that the HIOW air ambulance rely solely on donations. Having the air ambulance around makes it possible so that no one has to go through this devastation when a life can be saved by their speed and ability to get to any location.

One day I want to be at a point where 100% profit from a product can go to the HIOWAA, with an exclusive print just for them, but that will have to wait until the company has grown a little more.
This is to support HIOWAA so they can continue running, ensuring that a fast response team is around to keep families and friends together as long as possible.

So PJE, this one’s in your name. x

Finishing a Textile Design degree meant that one day I hoped (and dreamt about) seeing my designs on products out there in the world, but seeing something I am so proud of, and it being the first design sold, just made me so overjoyed, that I could never express it properly in words. The hours spent putting the detail into the design, and the joy I got from it cannot be described in words. This print was my kid that I nurtured in my final year of uni, and released into the world, and it means more to me than just birds, branches and florals.

Seeing my designs out there never gets old. It never will. The excitement and elation is something that will never fade, as it has been a dream of mine ever since I chose my degree, to bring my designs into life by placing them on products that people use. Hence why I started the hashtag #zoemuslin after launching my muslin collection. That way I can see where the products go, and how they are used in people’s lives. For me, it is not primarily a promotional tool, but so that I can be excited about what I have created and know that the ideas that have been running around my mind are in people’s lives, and are not just left on paper for good. I cannot tell you how big a smile I get from a post sent to me with a photo of my products in use, or a lovely comment about the designs. It gets me so excited to show you the next step coming from my studio, that I have to contain myself from sharing new designs before it’s ready.
So, thank you, for all your kind words and positivity. Please do continue to share your comments and pics of my muslins, as I cannot tell you how much it makes my day!

Ornithology, available at B&Q, under Holder Decor

The first collection of baby muslin squares have landed on z-o-e.co.uk! (27.1.16)
As mentioned on the ‘about’ page, the baby muslin squares are just the start of the collection. And these prints are the start of the muslin square designs.

Designed especially for you, the muslin squares are made with the softest material and highest colour number I could find. The two main criteria I had was that they had to be super soft- the best grade I could get, and contain the highest number of colours to print in the pattern as possible. So with the thickest, softest muslin my manufacturers could supply, and the highest number of colours they could print with, here is the birth of the Woodland and Mechanised Dodos gift box collections.

When it came to designing and selecting the prints there had to be animal designs in the collections, as for me, they are what I love drawing and painting the most, with florals coming in a close second.
As I have lived in the country, surrounded by National Trust land since I was six, having a woodland themed collection was a must. This welcomed the Bluetit, Rabbit & Hare, and Columbine Flower designs.

To compliment and not compete with this collection, I decided to create a pattern with less watercolour fluidity, brighter and bolder, that was still hand drawn. As I had to include a bird design (I have managed to include a bird print in nearly every collection I have done so far) I thought of bringing back the dodo. And what would be better than a group of mechanised ones. This led to creating Mechanised Parts and Blueprints to unify the Mechanised Dodos collection.

Two different collections, made with equal love and care. At the end of the day, my aim is to connect with you through my passion and love for design.

After designing for fashion, home and gifts brands, those near and dear did wonder ‘why start with muslins?’

It was something back in my university years that had briefly caught my attention when researching products to design for, but at that time I chose to design for interiors. Then a few months later my mum mentioned my patterns would look good on muslin squares. Other than agreeing, I didn’t think much more of it as I focused on finishing the interiors collection for my textile design degree.

Fast forward to a year ago, when one of my friends announced she was pregnant, and as friends do, you search for a gift for the new arrival. Being the first friend to have a little one, the whole baby section in stores was still pretty unknown to me. I wanted to find something that was a little bit of me, and be both practical and essential. I came across muslin squares!
They were something I loved as a little girl, and used as a comforter all through my early years. They weren’t something that got put on a pile to hand down to my cousin once I had outgrown their use for burping, feeding and general mopping of spillages. They were carried on holidays, snuggled to at night, and even accidentally taken into school. Now this was a product I wanted to give that new little one, so that he would have those same fond memories (if he chose to become as attached to them as I did).

Don’t get me wrong, there are some lovely muslin squares out there, but I was looking for one bursting with pattern, showing more colour than the white muslin, super soft, and beautifully presented. Every box I found was just missing that one ‘thing’ I was looking for that would show my friend the colour-clashing pattern-bursting creative mind I had, and wanted to share.

And there it was, that lightbulb moment.