HOW WE CAME TO INVENT SENSORY MUSLINS
Do you know how we started? How we came to invent the sensory muslin, back in 2016, inspired by a moment and a very special pair of eyes?
It was a wintery morning and my first daughter Etta was just a few weeks old. We were sat on the sofa attempting a feed but we’d been struggling with breastfeeding as I had a fast flow and she had a bad latch so between us it was fraught. This one particular morning I was wearing a fun monochrome mountain / zebra print jumper that I loved from Whistles, and I realised that the feed was going better than normal.
As I looked down at Etta I saw she was staring contently at this jumper and feeding more calmly as a result. I felt the weight almost instantly lift and my shoulders soften. As I glanced around my living room my eyes settled on one of the many muslins, and I had my lightbulb idea. Could muslins, which we were never out of arms reach and always to hand during a feed, be designed with sensory prints like this jumper to help more mums and babies have better feeds and calmer moments across their day? The answer was a resounding yes.
Etta with our first ever samples in August 2016
I set off to a baby sensory class that afternoon with this idea buzzing in my head and when I ran it past my NCT friends at the class they all agreed that it had legs. I didn’t want to just make muslins monochrome, as that would be a lazy approach to sensory, so I sought to find an expert in infant vision to ensure that we could use precise knowledge of what babies could see and liked to look at to make sure they kept them occupied, learning to see and engaged for months on end. Laura (our orthoptist to this day) joined me and Etta Loves was born. We registered the business in April of 2016 and launched the website with the worlds first sensory muslins on 3rd November that same year.
It’s crazy looking back that such a difficult, exhausting time could produce an idea like I had, but so many businesses are born out of a need, a realisation that something better could exist, so if something is fizzing in your head, born out of your experience I urge you to prod it and poke it in case it is something special.
I am so proud to have invented the sensory muslin, and been the first brand to introduce age ranges to muslins, so that our patterns change with their visual development, providing a learning experience that’s not too hard and not too easy, which is how we all learn best.
A year into the business we introduced our second range of prints - plants - followed by more scientifically magical, supportive products like our reversible playmats and blankets. And this year we launched our sensory squares and bath toys and teethers.
Etta's little sister Uma with our leopard print XL muslin in 2018
We’ll always be driven by what’s best for baby, and most helpful and multi-functional for parents to ease the transition into and journey through parenthood, and I’ll always see magic when I look in not so little Etta’s eyes.
A few fun facts about me:
I have a slightly topsy turvy family, with one of my (half) sisters being older than my mum
I lived in Spain for a year, learning Spanish and hanging out with some of S Club 7
My most unexpected hobby is skipping, I love trying to learn tricks with the jump rope when I have the energy and the girls are asleep
I am allergic to apples and peaches, which is annoying as I love them
My secret passion is singing, and if I were braver I’d join a choir