When Harrods invited me to create a collection of Irish Linen Christmas decorations, I could hardly believe it. Eight months of designing, sampling and sourcing followed, with work beginning before the previous Christmas was even over.
I created twenty pieces across three very different themes: Curious Creatures, Debutantes & Divas and Poles Apart. The collection launched in-store and online in July 2025, originally exclusive to Harrods, including their iconic Knightsbridge flagship store.
For Curious Creatures, the brief began with bugs. A Christmas tree filled with beetles, butterflies and other curious little characters—what a wonderfully unexpected idea!
The project encouraged me to explore brighter colours and more elaborate embellishment. My usual approach leaves plenty of linen visible beneath delicate embroidery and scattered beads; here, some designs became almost entirely covered in hand-stitched sparkle. The beautiful Irish Linen could still be appreciated on the reverse, of course.
Some pieces were entirely new, while others grew from existing designs, enlarged and dressed a little more lavishly for their Harrods debut.
Research with my biggest little assistant
In November 2024, Finn and I visited the Ulster Museum to gather inspiration from its extraordinary natural-history collections. It has been a favourite place of mine since childhood, and returning with my own little research assistant made the project all the more special.
There’s something captivating about those specimens: iridescent wings, intricate markings and colours that seem almost too extraordinary to be real. Translating them into linen, thread, beads and sequins was a rather lovely challenge.
Butterflies, beetles and a bejewelled Dragonfly
Our Dazzling Dragonfly became one of the collection’s showstoppers. Its colours and jewel-like embellishments took inspiration from an image of an Art Deco enamel brooch by Lalique—a little meeting of jewellery and natural history.
The blue butterflies were particularly intricate. Inspired by Morpho Cypris and Morpho Anaxibia, their individually hand-stitched sequins create layers of shifting colour, with metallic thread tracing the veins. As they turn in the light, blues and turquoise give way to flashes of purple. A royal-blue Irish Linen from a family-run mill in County Wexford completes the reverse.
Our Orange Monarch brought a warmer glow. Rich orange Irish Linen from County Antrim remains visible between the embroidered veins, while bronze iridescent sequins add depth to the wings. Its autumnal palette felt equally at home among Halloween branches and Christmas greenery.
The Curiosity Beetle developed from my earlier Scarab design. I wanted to capture something of the changing colours of real jewel beetles, using a mixture of shimmering sequins. With his spindly legs, stylised face and little heart-shaped detail on his back, he acquired quite a personality.
A Frog with a special finishing touch
Our Midnight Frog was made from fine vintage Irish Linen in deep green, with iridescent sequins, tiny glass beads and touches of pewter.
We couldn’t find the right pewter-coloured cord for his outline, so we made our own, twisting fine metallic strands together by hand. A small detail, perhaps, but one that helped bring the whole piece together.
Frogs are familiar visitors to our garden, thanks to our neighbours’ ponds, and the boys always shriek with delight when we find one. They became involved in the theme in another way, too: we had a frog-themed birthday party that summer. The grandparents made the sponge layers, while I stayed up until 2am decorating a rather ambitious swamp cake. Research takes many forms in this house!
Woodland companions
The Toadstool brought burnt-orange metallic embroidery and large faux pearls, standing proud of the cap for a wonderfully tactile finish. Pewter and silver detailing gave the stalk a little extra woodland magic.
Our Gothic Bat grew larger and more elaborate, with iridescent blue highlights among tiny embroidered stars and moons. A character quite happy to fly between Halloween and Christmas.
And our Parlour Owl, inspired by a much-loved specimen at the Ulster Museum, brought a quieter presence to the gathering, his soft feathers translated into delicate embroidered dashes.
Seeing these little creatures take their places in Harrods was quite something. From museum visits with Finn to hand-twisted metallic cord at the worktable, there were so many personal details behind the finished collection.
I still have to pinch myself.
Katie xox
