The Artful Home of Rosanna Watts, in Jaipuri Bloom

A shared story of craft, kinship and beautiful cloth

Rosanna Watts hangs archive block prints on a line as her daughter plays in a dress of Jaipuri Bloom White/Blue cotton

Rosanna Watts, founder of Courgette Events, believes beauty belongs in the everyday. In the soft spring light of the English countryside, she carries her daughter across a gravel path, both mid-laughter, while lengths of cloth lift and billow on the washing line. It is a scene that is playful, grounded and deeply intentional, and we are proud that our fabric is part of it.

A canvas named home

Rosanna is a maker in the quietest sense. Between raising young children and planning events full-time, she pours her creativity into her home: a freshly repainted shelf, a vintage curtain trimmed with braid, walls printed with her children's hands and feet.

"Most of my creative time is spent tinkering around the house mending and curating spaces to feel magical, so when I'm here, I really want to be here," she shares. It is an instinct she learned from her Aunt Charchie, whose house "felt like a big cosy jumper, colourful, comfortable, and well lived in."

Rosanna Watts and her daughter in hand-smocked Tranquility dresses in a Cotswolds garden, the daughter's cut from Jaipuri Bloom White/Blue block printed cotton

Jaipuri Bloom, smocked by hand

For this shoot, our friends at Darling You hand-smocked two of their Tranquility dresses. Her daughter's mini Tranquility is cut from our Jaipuri Bloom Hand Block Printed Cotton in White/Blue, a stylised floral in two fresh shades of blue on a clean white ground. Rosanna's own dress, in a plain deep navy cotton, sets it off beautifully.

Rosanna Watts' daughter wearing Tranquility dresses made by Darling You

Jaipuri Bloom is printed by hand in Jaipur, India, using traditional wooden blocks, so every metre carries small, charming variations. At 90 gsm, the 100% cotton is light and breathable, with just enough structure to gather evenly into smocking and hold its shape on a little one who never stops moving.

The block prints fluttering on the washing line are from a past collection in our archive, a reminder of how lovely these hand-printed cottons look in the open air. You will find our current designs among our hand block printed Jaipur cottons.

 

Make something of your own

Whether you are smocking a dress for a little one or sewing a summer piece for yourself, our fabrics are sold by the metre from our Vancouver studio, and we ship worldwide. Browse all our fabrics and find the one that starts your next story.

Photography by Marta (@martamayphotos). Dresses made by Darling You.

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