When she is not working as an assistant controller for a local construction company, Jennifer Bush is busy building her own business, Periwinkle Rose, a manufacturer and retailer of “comfortable pajamas for a comfortable life.”
Started in 2004, the company’s heart can be found in Bush’s Snohomish home, where one room is set aside for production, and online at www.periwinklerose.com, where customers can order Bush’s 100 percent cotton, pre-washed creations as well as unique gifts sourced from other small businesses.
Gifts such as candles from Big Dipper Wax Works, bath and body products from Nose Garden Botanicals and laundry powder from La Bouquetiere. Gifts that Bush wouldn’t mind getting herself.
“Before Periwinkle was even a glimmer in my eye, I found products that I personally like,” she said. “… I also wanted to support local companies; I wanted there to be some individuality to the products.”
Bush combined her desire for individuality with a goal to make “something comfortable to wear anywhere” in starting Periwinkle Rose. The result: pajama bottoms that are as stylish as they are comfy, that run the gamut from classic polka dot to “kitschy” kitchen scenes, and that are available in full-length pants or capris.
Paired with an American Apparel T-shirt, camisole or hoodie sweatshirt (also available online through Periwinkle Rose), the pajama bottoms look right at home outside of the home besides being comfortable enough to sleep in, Bush said.
“What I wanted was for people to feel special when they’re wearing them,” said Bush, who began sewing as a child, making outfits for her Cabbage Patch dolls.
In college, a flair for the dramatic led her to earn a bachelor’s degree in costume design from Western Washington University. She later attended Seattle Central Community College’s apparel design program.
Today, Bush uses the skills she acquired to create pajamas from the initial pattern to the final stitch. In her production room, she has three work stations — ironing, pattern cutting and sewing — with heavy-duty equipment that enables her to produce a pair of custom-ordered pajamas in about two hours “from cutting to washing,” she said.
Business has taken off in the past year, with orders up 300 percent, Bush said. That amounts to about 40 orders a month, “so it’s not a gigantic scale, but it’s definitely enough for me.”
While the majority of the company’s sales are Web-based, with customers ordering from all across the United States, Periwinkle Rose’s pajamas have garnered interest from other retailers, with BeeHive Day Spa in Snohomish recently carrying the line, she said.
Though the hours are long, Bush said the creative process is rewarding.
“I wanted to make a product that I would enjoy and people I knew would enjoy. It’s like comfort food for the body,” she said.
For more information on Periwinkle Rose, go online to www.periwinklerose.com.
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