It's rather extraordinary to think that our entire Irish Linen Christmas decoration collection began with a letter I wasn't expecting and a product I hadn't even considered making.
At the time, I was happily working away on my Irish Linen cushions and quilt collection when an unexpected letter arrived from Historic Royal Palaces. They had discovered my work through the Craft NI directory and invited me to a meeting at Royal Hillsborough Castle, where they were preparing to open a new shop.
Naturally, I was delighted by the invitation and went along with samples of my cushions, expecting to discuss the possibility of supplying them to the castle.
As it turned out, although they loved my work, they were looking for something quite different. They asked whether I might consider making Christmas decorations instead.
Christmas decorations! The thought had genuinely never crossed my mind.
I went away and gave the idea some serious consideration, and the seed was sown. Of course, there was one fairly substantial obstacle: I wasn't remotely set up to produce them!
I had no established decoration range, no production arrangements and certainly no way of fulfilling the quantities or timescales they needed. What followed was around a year of drawings, experiments, developing samples, sourcing materials and figuring out how on earth I was going to turn these little ideas into something that could actually be made.
So, although I missed the boat on that original opportunity, I'm enormously grateful that they planted the idea in the first place.
My first small collection eventually launched with seaside-inspired designs, followed shortly afterwards by Irish symbols. Those early pieces were very much rooted in the natural, neutral tones of Irish Linen, with metallic embroidery and carefully chosen embellishments bringing a little sparkle to the rustic cloth.
Over the years, the collection has grown in ways I could never have anticipated. More colours, more characters, more unusual subjects and, thankfully, a much better understanding of how to make them all!
But I've never forgotten where the idea first came from.
The Pineapple Connection
One of the most striking decorative details at Royal Hillsborough Castle is the magnificent golden pineapple sitting proudly above the entrance archway. It certainly didn't escape my attention as I made my way in and out of that first meeting.
The gardens at Royal Hillsborough Castle, the official residence of the Royal Family when visiting Northern Ireland, are exquisite. From time to time, we take our little boys there to run around while we admire the beautiful planting and discuss, rather unrealistically, what we might do to our own house and garden!
The pineapple has long been associated with hospitality, welcome and luxury, making it a rather fitting emblem for a grand historic house.
Admittedly, a pineapple isn't exactly the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Northern Irish heritage, but I thought it was fabulous!
Before long, it found its way into my own decoration collection, reimagined in Irish Linen with metallic lattice embroidery, tiny square sequins and carefully worked embellishments.
Our Pineapple originally appeared in my signature oatmeal-toned Irish Linen, adorned with regal champagne-gold embellishments and faux crystals. As I began experimenting more with colour, rich, moody greens and wonderfully offbeat shades of yellow gradually crept into the collection.
Another little connection comes from my earlier work with vintage silk scarf cushions. Back in 2013, I sourced a particularly rare Liberty of London silk scarf featuring these wonderfully colourful pineapples, which I made into a cushion backed in beautiful Irish linen. It eventually found a new home. Some of my favourite vintage prints have inspired motifs in my own collections, and I love how these little influences resurface and intertwine throughout my work. I think I'm simply subconsciously drawn to gorgeous things, and every so often they find their way into something of my own!
The little square sequins are secured by tiny beads stitched through their centres, allowing them to swivel gently within the embroidered pattern. I rather like the subtle movement this gives them.
And so, a little Pineapple became a reminder of the place where this entire chapter of Katie Larmour began.
Discover our Irish Linen Pineapple decoration
A Little Pineapple Hospitality
The pineapple's historical association with hospitality has made it a rather appropriate little gift for hosts.
I once arrived at a dinner party carrying a miniature potted ornamental pineapple plant in one hand and a bottle adorned with one of our Pineapple decorations in the other.
Quite the spectacle, and certainly a conversation starter! One for the eccentric who enjoys making a good entrance!
And there's another rather lovely connection.
Longbourn Regency Emporium in Bath stocks our decorations for the annual Jane Austen Festival. The pineapple was a fashionable symbol of wealth, hospitality and welcome in Georgian society, making it particularly appropriate for Regency celebrations.
It's also one of the reasons our Pineapple pairs so beautifully with our Georgian Door decoration. Both have their own little connections to Georgian architecture and the tradition of welcoming guests.
I always love hearing where our decorations end up, who's chosen them and what they're celebrating. It's one of the nicest parts of what I do.
Quite a social life for a little embroidered fruit!
A Second Royal Invitation
Now, you might think that was the end of my adventures with the royal palaces. Not quite!
Having missed the boat on that first opportunity, I was contacted again some years later by the Royal Collection Trust, with an invitation to develop a selection of decorations inspired by their upcoming exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, this time at The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
The exhibition focuses on the late Queen's extraordinary wardrobe, including clothing, jewellery, hats and accessories from throughout her life. As you can imagine, there was plenty to inspire me!
I got my head down and set about designing a little collection inspired by the clothing and treasures associated with the royal collections. There was a beautifully embellished jacket, a rather fancy matching hat, a diamond brooch, historical tiara and even a suit of armour.
I worked incredibly hard on those designs and would have loved to see them come to life.
Unfortunately, the timing was spectacularly chaotic.
I had a young baby at home (as well as a toddler), we were in the middle of moving house, and my very first Harrods collection was launching at the same time. I was already working into the nights and juggling rather more than I could comfortably manage. As much as I wanted to make it happen, I simply couldn't meet the deadlines.
And so, having missed my first royal opportunity because I wasn't yet making Christmas decorations, I managed to miss the second because I was making rather too many of them!
You couldn't make it up.
Still, I was enormously grateful to have been approached, and I thoroughly enjoyed the creative work, even if the decorations never made it to the exhibition shop floor.
Perhaps it'll be third time lucky, when life is a little less full!
I rather think I'd have an OBE by now if I'd ever managed to get one of these royal projects over the finish line!
And Where It All Led
I sometimes wonder how differently things might have turned out had that first meeting at Hillsborough Castle simply resulted in an order for cushions.
Instead, it gave me a little nudge towards something I hadn't even imagined doing.
What began as a handful of seaside-inspired decorations has grown into a wonderfully varied collection, with designs inspired by Irish heritage, childhood memories, the natural world, beautiful objects and occasionally something rather unexpected. Today, our decorations are stocked in over 400 shops around the world, something I could scarcely have imagined when I first sat down to draw those early designs.
And all these years later, I'm still drawing, experimenting and finding new things to turn into Christmas decorations.
Who would have thought!
