When you gift a Thornback & Peel Hanky Box, you are giving a present that has been handmade from start to finish. The idea originally came about because Juliet was looking for an unusual present for her father-in-law.
We start with a 100% cotton handkerchiefs, each one individually hand screen printed by our in house printer, Penni. As Christmas approaches, the large screen printing table in the middle of the studio is stacked with layer upon layer of tessellated hankies laid out to dry. Hanky lasagne, if you will.
Once the hankies have been heat pressed to make them colour fast for washing, they are ready to be boxed up. With each new design, we spend time with paper maquettes trialling how the design will fit neatly together in their presentation box.
We hit upon the idea of carefully folding and rolling each hanky, so that when they were placed together in the box they created one image.
Over the years we have perfected the art of hanky rolling, and at Christmas, with orders flooding in, the whole team gets stuck in! Watch our video to see how it’s done:
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