SISTERS Sarah Gant and Emma Kelly had a name for their baby clothing venture before anything else.

In fact, they had registered it and bought the domain name two years before they finally found the perfect way to make the most of it - with a raft of softer than soft garments designed for tiny bodies.

And now they are sprinkling more than a bit of Twinkledust across Essex and beyond as their long held dream of getting their own venture off the ground has finally come to fruition.

Both mums to small children themselves, the idea for creating soft clothing and bedding for babies and small children came about as so many do, from realising there may be a gap in the market.

Sarah explains: "We had a domain address and e-mail name before we had anything else really.

"We both just really liked that name and wanted to have something that was called that.

"We were both working full-time in London but when I had my first daughter and went on maternity leave I was already thinking about something we could do together.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Family - Emma's daughter Immy and Sarah's little girl Olivia model some of their designs

Emma's daughter Immy and Sarah's little girl Olivia model

"We had always wanted to do that but had never taken that step.

"After we both had children we thought, 'now's the time' to do something for ourselves and Twinkledust was born."

With a name already in the bag the sisters, 18 months ago they formulated the idea for clothing and Twinkledust began to take shape.

"We literally just thought this would be something that would fit in with the name, baby and toddler clothes"

Sarah, mum to daughters Alicia, three, and Ella, one, says she returned to skills she had picked up whilst doing graphic design and textiles A-Levels in order to design the products she has come up with alongside Emma.

Sarah, 37, who had been working as a PA in the city, explains: "I did graphic design and textiles A-levels but then I went into London and did something completely different and then leaving that 16 years later it has been really nice to be able to use it again."

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Model - Emma's son Oliver in one of Twinkledust's outfits

Emma's son Oliver is a natural

It might be a far cry from life as a personal assistant but those skills are also being put to good use at Twinkledust.

"Both me and Emma do a bit of the designing each, we do it very much together as a team and we work really well together.

"I am now working full-time during the week and then Emma, who is still working full-time, picks it up in the evenings and any spare time she has."

The long-term hope is Emma, who has a four-year-old son Oliver and little girl, Ella, one, will be able to soon spend all her time on Twinkledust.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Lindsay Wakelin

The sisters have come up with a number of items including baby sleepsuits, t-shirts, leggings, sun dresses and bedding for cots and toddler beds.

Sarah explains their distinctive designs are based on the things they both love themselves - and they were determined to make sure the pieces were produced on these shores.

"I love seahorses, we both do, and so we wanted to have those on one of the designs.

"We did a girls one, in pink, and then we did one that was unisex in colour which is something we have tried to do with a lot of the things we are selling.

"We have created and designed the prints and then we found a printer in Leicester who creates the material and then they are created into the clothes in a little workshop in Nottingham.

"It was really important to use they made in England

Stars are another big theme and in the current summer range pineapples feature strongly too.

Emma, 38, who lives in Wivenhoe, adds: "But although it seems a long way off, we have already been putting together the winter range and this has Christmas prints with deer and then there are also T-shirts with slogans on like 'I'm Trouble'."

Having found the perfect material they wanted to make their clothes out of the sisters also wanted to make their bedding from this.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Lindsay Wakelin

"It is so soft, and cool in the summer as well as warm in the winter and that was something we were really struggling to find as mums ourselves.

"Some outfits for babies are quite stiff and then the softer ones can be less cute so we wanted to be able to have a cute outfit that was really soft too and that is what we have done," says Sarah.

Both admit while it could be difficult working with family, they complement each other and love working together on Twinkledust.

The aim now is to spread the word even further and build on initial success which has included them being shortlisted for a Junior Design award for Best Baby Fashion Design, run by Junior Magazine.

"We are not really thinking about having a permanent shop at the moment but we would like to do pop-ups and we are also going to a trade show soon in London," says Sarah.

To shop, click here.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Lindsay Wakelin