The Tailor of Gloucester

When I was young, I had just two Beatrix Potter books - The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle and The Tailor of Gloucester. 

Although I frequently read Mrs Tiggywinkle, I  had been put off ever reading The Tailor of Gloucester. One rare evening out for my parents, our neighbour Freddie was babysitting  and offered to read a bedtime story. This was an unusual treat for us as our mother never read to us on account of the fact that it always put her to sleep!  I requested The Tailor of Gloucester, but my sister begged for it not to be that book, as it was so scary.  That was enough to convince me.  She was my older, wiser sister.  She knew what was best for me.  So I never did read the book, though I did occasionally skip through the pages, trying to fathom from the illustrations what horrors the story could possibly contain.

 Moving swiftly through the years, a few weeks ago I found myself at Farnham Maltings Monthly Market, selling my wares for the first time.  I had with me a few old Beatrix Potter books which I had dressed up with slip covers in a lovely blue or pink toile that I had acquired from the States.  I also had some of the Red Riding Hood hussifs mentioned in my previous post. After a little while browsing, one potential customer asked me if I might be able to do a sewing kit, but based on The Tailor of Gloucester.  I said I'd give it a go (though I wasn't very convinced at this stage) and we exchanged contact details.  Well, the seed was planted, and once I started thinking about it, I was itching to get home and get on with it!  So this is how this little chap came into being - thanks to Helen for the original idea!

And it turns out The Tailor of Gloucester isn't a horror story after all!