My name is Cathy Dearinger and I have been making Peg and Kate style Pencil Rolls for friends and family for a while now.
Just recently my girlfriends suggested they were too good to give away. It wasn't until I grew frustrated at not being able to identify my daughter's desk in the classroom that I thought about making a chairbag to match. On a weekend away at my parent's farm, I started to seriously think about what I really wanted to create - and came up with products that appeal to children and parents that solve a number of hassles throughout the school year.(image to right is of my very supportive girlfriends )
Picture this...it's the start of the school year and you're busy covering about a thousand school books with sticky plastic wrap. I can never cover without airbubbles. Why is it always the back of the books that are bubble free, leaving the front looking like a pug dog with bubbles and wrinkles everywhere - try following the instruction and you get even more bubbles - Ahhhh!
I can get a little carried away with co-ordinating my daughter's back to school essentials; I don't like to go with something I know everyone else will have. At times, I think I'm more excited about what colours to choose for book covers than my daughter. Fast forward yourself to January - you head into the big chain stores to pick out rolls of paper and there never seems like much to choose from (or you have to cover books in different colours). You buy rolls and rolls to cover the pile of books you know lay ahead of you - and then do it all again 12 months later (is that the definition of futility?). I only have one child and feel for those parents with 2 or 3 or more - goodness knows how you cope.
Another thing that bugs me.....watching my daughter rifle through her pencil case looking for a colour, or worse, tipping them all out and breaking pencil leads in the process and then not bothering to put them away again. How does the teacher cope? 25 children all looking for that just perfect colour - finding it needs sharpening - wasting time searching for the sharpener and then finding that the leads have broken and the pencil is now useless anyway. What about sending your child to school every year with an entire set of new pencils (felt tip pens, crayons, sharpener, ruler, eraser) only to find at the end of term they are all mostly missing. I'm certain there is a black market in lost pencils. My daughter calls the fairys that take her pencils 'Mr Take-It'. Apparently Mr Take-It lives in the bin - he grabs anything left on the classroom floor and returns it back to his 'lair'.
My daughter's classroom is ever changing. Why is it that whenever I'm in a hurry (like everyday I hear you say) the classroom has been rearranged and you can't find your child's desk. Am I the only Mum that has to continually interrupt the teacher just to find out where my child's desk is? I feel like I'm in the classroom more than my daughter sometimes - I just want to sneak in and out without being noticed.I love my daughter's school, it is wonderful, but feel with the same 'standard issue' school uniforms, school shoes, school hat and school bags our children have no opportunity to express their own personality - why not have a range of class room essentials to get them excited about going to school.
I hope that you and your children will enjoy the range of products Peg and Kate offer. Stay tuned, I will be doing my best to get as many different fabric designs to give you loads to choose from. As for now we are starting small and hopefully with your help Peg & Kate will grow to be as successfull as it is in my dreams... I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our products, any suggestions, or feedback...
Thankyou
Cathy Dearinger
(aka Kate)
For those that are curious - Peg is in memory of my beloved Nana Moore who gave me the passion to create with the sewing machine.
