Angels With Dirty Faces

stylish retro baby and children’s gifts and accessories made in the UK

Inspiration for Nicola Rumsey’s range of uber-stylish baby and children’s accessories came from a chance visit to a children’s shop in Wyoming, USA. ‘I was visiting my husband’s family in the states and we were expecting a baby at the time,’ says Nicola. ‘We found ourselves in this really funky children’s boutique. Bright and edgy western and vintage fabrics were used in a way I’d never seen before. I was blown away. I knew how hard it was to find stylish things for babies in the UK, so I started thinking about whether I could start making similar things myself – as a business.’ Quite an ambitious undertaking, when you consider that at the time Nicola had never used a sewing machine before in her life. ‘My grandmother had recently died and left me her sewing machine,’ says Nicola. ‘I sat down, taught myself how to use it, and I began to wonder if it was all meant to be.’ With total dedication and determination, Nicola, who works from a painted wooden workshop in a corner of her garden in Kent, started to put her stunning range together. ‘If I’m going to do something, I have to do it right,’ she says. ‘I spent a lot of time sourcing and perfecting the fabrics I chose, and sampled each item until I was sure it was absolutely as good as it could be. I advertised in a local sewing shop for help and that was how I found Shirley. There’s nothing she can’t do with a sewing machine. She’s also my right-hand woman and together I think we are now producing something very special. Why should you have to give up on style just because you’ve had a baby? Now you don’t have to!’