Hello there!

I’m Cat, the face behind this colourful brand that’s all about bringing the joy of organic-cotton muslin to parents and their precious babies. The other toothy grin in this photo belongs to my son, Sam, who has been a huge part of the Pattie & Co. story...

My passion for this multitasking fabric we call muslin came as a bit of a surprise to me (and probably everyone who knows me, to be honest!). Before I had Sam, if you’d have asked me what muslin is and what it’s for, I would have stared at you blankly!

Fast forward to 2016 and Sam’s arrival into this world. A lovely friend gifted us a beautiful set of muslin swaddles, but I genuinely had no idea what I was supposed to do with them! (If you’re reading this in a similar situation, I hope you’ll find this blog helpful!)

After a LOT of Googling and many desperate attempts at transforming a wriggly Sam into a peacefully sleeping ‘baby burrito’, I resigned myself to the facts: swaddling wasn’t for him, I’d probably have to give those lovely blankets to someone else, and I had a baby who thought sleep was for wimps.

But I didn’t part with the muslin swaddles straight away. And pretty soon, I discovered I’d developed a fairly heavy dependency on them. The fabric was just THE BEST for cleaning up all kinds of baby-related incidents – sicky feeds, poonamis and all those times I failed to get Sam’s nappy back on before he had a wee! As time went on, I added more muslin squares and blankets to my stash and found myself using them not just for cleaning things up, but also as playmats, picnic blankets, sunshades, cold compresses, comforters, teethers, bibs… the list goes on. When I describe muslin as multitasking, I’m not kidding!

The secret to this fabric’s wondrous versatility is its distinctive criss-cross weave. It results in a lightweight cloth that’s easy to fold or scrunch into a pocket or changing bag, but is also incredibly strong, durable and absorbent. However, I quickly learned there’s a huge disparity in the quality of muslin out there on the baby market. Many of the muslin squares, blankets and comforters I bought were beautifully soft and useful to start with, but after a bit of wash and wear they became rough, scratchy and basically good for nothing.

I couldn’t help thinking it could be done better.

And so, having been made redundant while on maternity leave, I decided the time was right to scratch that itch I’d had for a while and start my own e-commerce business…

That’s how Pattie & Co. was born, in November 2018.

My mission was, and still is, to create the muslin all babies and their parents deserve.

Muslin that’s super soft and stays that way.

Muslin that’s as kind as can be to the most delicate skin.

Muslin that thrives through endless wash and wear.

Muslin that delivers years of functionality and versatility.

Muslin that’s made with care for our planet and its people.

And all with a hearty side order of joy, courtesy of bright colours and exclusive, happy-making prints!

GOTS organic cotton: the natural choice

After a few false starts in terms of fabric composition, it soon became clear that – to achieve my mission of ‘muslin done better’ – there was only one choice: cotton certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). Not only is it officially certified for its sustainability and ethical production line, but it’s grown entirely without chemicals, which makes it safer, stronger, softer and kinder to skin. It really is the gold standard of organic yarn, and it’s now the only cotton I’ll use for all of our muslin products.

Of course, GOTS-certified organic cotton does come with a higher price tag than conventional cotton, because so much more time, effort and care go into the farming process and ethical working environment. But the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ rings very true here! And for me, only the highest standards of sustainability, ethical production and kindness to your little one’s skin will do. You can read more about GOTS and the benefits of choosing organic cotton for babies here.

The journey so far…

I launched Pattie & Co. with just three swaddle blankets: one of which was our Rainbow Organic-Cotton Muslin Swaddle. The rainbow pattern was an instant hit with parents – and I’ve always had a thing for rainbows myself! – so it seemed a natural move to make rainbow hues our thing. There’s now a whole family of exclusive, unisex patterns that are printed to our muslin in our signature rainbow palette (using non-toxic inks, naturally!).

The product collection has also grown, and today it includes multipacks of muslin squares, comforters, blankets and bibs in addition to our original (and ever-popular) swaddle blanket. It was an incredibly proud moment when our blankets won a Junior Design Award in 2021, but what makes me even prouder is reading reviews from happy customers. Bringing muslin magic to parents and their babies is what it’s all about!

Supporting Tommy’s

I always wanted to build a business that gave something back somehow. My pregnancy journey meant that supporting Tommy’s, the pregnancy charity, was a natural choice.

After difficulty conceiving, I experienced two threatened miscarriages. The second time this happened, I was invited to join the Tommy’s Prism Study and – though I’ll never know if I had progesterone or placebo – I went on to have a healthy Sam. For that, I will always be beyond grateful.

So that’s why, for every muslin blanket we sell, we pledge 10% of the selling price to support the incredible and essential work that Tommy’s does. Our customers have already helped us donate a phenomenal amount of money to them – over £16,000 as of April 2022! You can check out the latest total on our Work for Good profile.

So that's the Pattie & Co. story! Whether you’ve shopped with us, recommended us, followed us on socials or supported us in any other way – thank you. I hope you and the little ones in your life love our products as much as I love making them.

And if you fancy receiving exclusive offers, product news and parenting tips, subscribe to our newsletter and I’ll keep in touch (but not too often, I promise!).

Cat x