Behind The Scenes At Liberty Fabrics London

Anna and I were honoured this year to go behind the scenes with the Liberty Design Team to talk about the new ‘Aesthetic Renaissance’ AW19 collection. We were so excited to have the opportunity to meet Polly who is the Design Manager for Liberty Fabrics. She talked us through the newest seasonal collection and showed us some of the original paintings and drawings, explaining the design process.  It was such a privilege to be able to talk about the collection with someone from the team who actually designed the fabrics.  Polly painting Frieze. Polly told us about the inspiration behind …

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Beautiful Liberty Trousers

I’ve recently bought some dress making patterns from Sew Over It and wanted to give the ‘Ultimate Trousers‘ a try.  It looked like a really simple pattern with easy instructions.  I was drawn to this stunning print too which is called ‘Painted Journey‘. I lOVE this print..it’s from a hand painted design, inspired by Marianne North’s lush paintings of global flora. Marianne was an intrepid explorer, visiting many countries such as Brazil, California, Java, Borneo, Japan and Ceylon (as it was know then).  This was in the 1800’s at a time when people rarely travelled, let alone women. She defied …

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Lovely Liberty Boxes

Nick was working in the studio when he came up with this great idea of making Lovely Liberty Boxes to fill a tricky space.  You can find the inspiration and tutorial below. So, it turns out that finding a storage solution that is functional, cheap and aesthetically pleasing is a very hard task indeed- especially when the shelf you intend to put them on has very odd dimensions and nothing standard seems to fit! This is just the problem Nick was having at the same time he was helping out in the office at Alice Caroline. Looking around the studio …

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Beautiful Patchwork & Fussy Cutting

Beautiful Patchwork & Fussy Cutting – what more could you ask for?  Today, I’d like to showcase the work of one of our lovely customers with you.  Suzanne Campion has been one of our loyal customers for years now and I always love everything she makes.  Last year, she made a gorgeous Christmas Cathedral Window cushion and guest designed the pattern for the Alice Caroline library.  I loved this pattern so much that Suzanne has made two new beautiful colour ways of this, surprisingly easy to make, cushion.  It looks like a really tricky pattern but that’s deceptive.     …

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Top Tips For English Paper Piecing

I’ve put together some Top Tips For English Paper Piecing.  I’ve become obsessed with English Paper Piecing recently. It’s known as ‘EPP’ in the business and is such a lovely way to sew. For those of you who know nothing about EPP, then it is the art of cutting beautiful fabric into a wide variety of different shapes, wrapping them in paper and then sewing them back together again in many different designs.  Don’t worry about the paper, as once you have sewn around all of the sides of the fabric piece, you remove the papers and can use these …

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Pretty Paisley Dress

Sarah from the studio has made this Pretty Paisley Dress.  Now that the summer is coming here in the UK we are all thinking about making lovely summer dresses.  Liberty Tana Lawn is great for making lightweight summer dresses. It feels lovely next to the skin and is delicate enough to be lovely and cool. I asked Sarah about the sewing project.  She said “I chose the pattern because I loved the style of the dress.  I fell in love with the simple shape and the v-neckline really suits my figure.  I’d been eyeing up the fabric in the studio …

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Liberty Sewing Projects

Anna JP has been using the Liberty darks small pieces pack to make more Liberty Sewing Projects.  I absolutely love this gorgeous tea cosy.  Maybe it is an English tradition, but a tea cosy means that you can make a pot of tea (which always tastes better than dipping a tea bag into a mug) and drink several cups at the right temperature.     Anna JP says “This is made by sewing parallel strips of different widths, which are then joined together into an irregular pattern. I tried to balance out the prints so that my preferred ones took …

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Liberty Scraps Cushion

Anna JP from the office has been making a beautiful Liberty Scraps Cushion.  It uses small pieces of Liberty fabric in a really simple design.  I love the fabrics she has put together.  The lovely grey piping detail around the edge of the cushion finishes it off beautifully too.   Anna JP talks about her sewing project. “I just love the collection of prints in our “darks” small pieces pack. On their own, the prints in these packs might seem a little uninspired, but curated together they really work.    I really wanted to see if I could make something …

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Perfect English Paper Piecing

I love Perfect English Paper Piecing and have recently become quite obsessed with the technique.  I’ve designed a few projects for the Sewing Quarter.  Dawn from the studio decided to make her own version of the Snowflake Quilt that I designed for them.  She saw it as an excellent way to use up left over fabrics.  I never waste any Liberty fabric – it’s far too beautiful to throw any away.  EPP is such a versatile way of using it up. I asked Dawn about her Perfect English Paper Piecing.  “I’ve not done EPP before.  I’ve made some granny’s flowers …

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Liberty Ultimate Shift Dress – Sew Over It Pattern

Laura has made a Liberty Ultimate Shift Dress using the Sew Over It pattern.  She has used a fabric that I really love –  Yoshie – which is available in a few really pretty colour ways.  The fabric is on sale at the moment too which is great news – makes it a little cheaper.  I’ve been really excited about these Sew Over It patterns coming in.  Lots of us are beavering away at making various clothes using them. Laura talks about the make here.  “Moving from season to season I find I completely forget how to wear my clothes. Does …

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