Tag Archive for 'Liberty of London'

Page 3 of 3

LIBERTY OF LONDON SUMMER

Published on May 25, 2009 in textiles and the workroom. 11 Comments Tags: .

When you own a fabric shop, one must have a few personal rules in place.

#1 – Do not unnecessarily hoard fabric.

Obviously I adore fabric and I certainly adore all the fabrics that I choose for the workroom. Often times, just the satisfaction of having ordered a fabric, unpacking it from a box, putting it on the shelf and watching people buy it for projects is enough for me. Whenever I cut fabric off the bolt for myself, it is for a specific project or pattern that I am about to make.

My seven beloved bolts of Liberty of London fabrics arrived last Thursday and I have unabashedly broken my rule for these gems.

I have cut myself two metres of each of these seven fabrics to add to my collection before they disappear. In order to justify this, I’ve decided on this year’s summer sewing challenge for myself. (last year’s challenge = 13 dresses) I must make at least one thing out of each of these seven Liberty of London prints before Fall. This way, it’s not really hoarding, but merely being well prepared for my summer projects!

I am not the only one with Liberty fever. Check out this, this and this.

Share

LIBERTY OF LONDON DAYDREAMS

Published on April 6, 2009 in textiles and the workroom. 18 Comments Tags: , .

I’m not sure what it’s like where you are, but here in Toronto, it is grey and there is a slushy snow falling from the sky. It’s my day off and after running some errands with Maisy, I’m going to tuck in and do an oddball mixture of sewing and accounting. Hopefully working on my Double Wedding Ring quilt will offset the hours of accounting I have to tackle.

I thought perhaps these photos of the Liberty of London fabrics that I ordered for the shop last week might perk up your day. I have been looking at them constantly, carefully considering what lovely things I might make with them. Perhaps you’d like to do a little fabric day dreaming too? This Tana Lawn cotton has a really high thread count and is so lovely to work with.

For me, this is a big milestone. Liberty is the pinnacle of timeless fabric design. Flipping through their swatch books was such an incredibly delicious experience. It is unheard of to see that many amazing prints in one collection. Narrowing my selections down to just six bolts was a bit of torture, but I managed by telling myself that this is just my first order of many more. The fabrics don’t arrive until the end of May, so lots of time to imagine the perfect projects for them.

Share

FOUND : METALLIC LINEN & CORDUROY

Published on December 18, 2008 in DIY, found, spotted and textiles. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

B & J Fabrics

Okay, this is not my usual ‘found by the side of the road‘ post. This is about discovering something in your possession that you forgot you owned. Like finding a $20 bill in an old purse you haven’t used for a few months, only I think this is much better. When talking to Debbie the other day about her metallic tote bag, I suddenly had a flash that I had bought myself some gorgeous metallic linen when I went to New York over Labour Day. When I went home, I scavenged in my spare closet and pulled out a beloved B & J Fabric store bag. Inside it, I found a yard of silvery linen fabric and also a couple yards of the finest wale corduroy in purplish grey. I can’t tell you how delighted and inspired I was.

One of the things I miss most about living in New York (besides French bistro fare, sample sales, Chelsea art galleries and the Strand) is aimlessly wandering the Garment district, slowly scanning shelves piled high with bolts of delicious fabric. I would often spend hours dreaming up creations and carefully choosing which fabrics would come home with me. B & J Fabrics is one of my favourites. This is where I first discovered Liberty of London fabrics. Just to be near those bolts of fabulous prints made me giddy.

Usually I find that the fabric tells me what it wants to be. The soft corduroy demands to be a dress and the linen a little sparkly top. As I start having some down-time over the holidays, I’ll be ready with my Gingher scissors to cut into these two fabrics and start creating.

p.s. There was a piece on the CBC radio show, ‘Spark’, yesterday about the resurgence of sewing. You can hear my funny voice for a few seconds here. Just fast forward to 12:30 for the part on sewing. The piece starts and finishes with cute audio clips from the 1948 film by Simplicity, “Pattern for Smartness“. It is extremely entertaining.

Greyish Purplish Corduroy

Metallic Linen

Share