If you follow us on Twitter then you’ve probably met this little tiger before.

This is Pip.

Or Pippi-cat to give her full title, whose name comes from the heroine of the Pippi Longstocking stories by Astrid Lindgren.

She has stripy little legs, like the long stripy socks Pippi Longstocking wore.

And just like her namesake Pip often gets herself into some interesting pickles - like the time she climbed effortlessly onto the porch roof, only to wonder how she got up there, or more to the point how to get down ! Needless to say step ladders come in very handy sometimes!

So when earlier in the year our rep brought previews of the new Hatbox collection from Cotton and Steel we found it impossible to resist this....

And this, both in lovely lightweight cotton....

And this, which comes in a lovely sturdy Linen / cotton blend - purrfect for bag-making.

Hatbox by Alexia Abegg of Green Bee Designs combines fresh zingy colours, and a modern approach to 1950’s design.

The selvedges tell a story in themselves too, each includes notes, for this print they read - "Day dress - Side Show - California - 1955 - Train Ride" an insight into the inspiration of each print, fetching to mind a mid century, cross country train trip seeing side shows on the way.

Each print combine perfectly with Cotton & Steel Basics geometric prints and solids, to make a versatile collection.

I can see scarves, hair tidies, quilts, clothes for little ones, and not so little ones made from these Cotton & Steel lovelies. Perhaps even a new cat bed for Pippi?

Happy making x