Our story

For ten years, The Amber Hour existed only in my head. But really, it began long before that.
I was an army child  - the last of the family, born after my parents’ many years in the Far East, and raised on the move with new country every few years. I grew up inside the beautiful things my mother gathered as she went: mahogany chairs, wicker and fabric treasures carried home from Singapore and Hong Kong. She had a wonderful eye, and our homes were always lovelier than anyone else’s. Colour, pattern and craft were simply the wallpaper of my childhood.
So I was never a stranger to hand block-print. I’d long loved it. On my many travels, the quilts and textiles in palettes that stop you in your tracks were the pieces I’d bring back. The artistry, the soft cotton, the depth of colour. What I couldn’t find was anywhere doing it properly here, at home in the UK. So I decided to.
And then, as these things do, life politely got in the way. Four children. A job. The ordinary chaos of a full house. The dream went in a drawer, and every so often I’d take it out, look at it, and put it back.
Then this year, I finally stopped waiting for the perfect moment, and I didn’t do it alone.
My eldest daughter Alice, 19 and full of better ideas than me, became my partner. Together we went to Jaipur this Spring to see if we could actually do this thing. 
We spent 10 days there with our talented photographer, Freya, sourcing fabric and designing our pieces alongside the amazing artisans who make them for us. These are block-printers who carve their patterns by hand and stamp each length of cotton the old way, one press at a time. Nothing here is mass-produced. Every quilt, jacket and pair of pyjamas is made slowly, by hand, by people who have practised this craft for generations. The incredible skills are passed down in families, lunch is taken together, the studios are really one extended family and they are so welcoming and kind. We are so proud that pieces have that joy stitched into their DNA.
The result is The Amber Hour: small batches, some pieces one-of-a-kind, all made to be lived in.
Worn to be seen, or pulled around you at the end of the night. Designed by us, handmade in Jaipur.
It took me ten years to be brave enough to begin, and doing it with my daughter made all the difference. I’m so glad we finally did. And I’m so glad you’re here.
Lottie x