Liberty Trouser & Top Set

Laura has made a gorgeous gift for her mum using one of our bespoke Liberty fabrics, Anna’s Garden. She tells us about the project. “It has been a long time since I have gifted my family anything, the reasons for which I blame the price of post to Australia entirely. However, as we will soon be reunited and sharing the same hemisphere for a brief time this summer, I thought it about time I got my act together and sew some gifts. What better way to ease the blow of nothing received for about three years than to hand over lovely handmade Liberty fabric goods now? It is a genius plan, I tell you!”

“After finding the most perfect Liberty fabric to use for Dad’s gift, choosing one to use for Ma proved to be more difficult on account of their being too many choices. Ma’s favourite colour is purple so the fabric obviously had to either be purple, or at least include purple. Liberty are not known for their purples, normally they are a rarer colour amongst the collections (yellow and green are also usually harder to come by). However it is just my luck that there are currently quite a few to choose from! An immense help, Alice Caroline recently re-printed 8 fun Liberty prints from the archive to form their Summer Edit collection. All the prints are lovely and amongst them are two purples, Danjo R and Anna’s Garden A. Both good choices and in fact, Childhood Treasures C also has some purple amongst its mustard florals so I put that in the running as well. Outside of the Summer Edit collection, the Alice Caroline Exclusive Halcyon Daze collection features a sweet Felicite Lavender, and Liberty’s Archivist Edit collection has a dark purple Camberwell Peacock. Quite a lot more purple than is usually available form Liberty, such choice! Weighing up the purple options, in the end I went for Anna’s Garden for its bold purple background and bright colours. The print is absolutely beautiful, featuring poppies, roses and foxgloves in a large scale, it is just perfect for dressmaking. Tana Lawn® is also a great choice for making garments in because it is such a high quality cotton. It feels amazing to wear, all silky and soft to touch. It is also cool and light, fantastic for summery outfits such as this.”

“Initially I had thought Ma would appreciate a jumpsuit but do you know what is even better than a jumpsuit? A matching set! I will make it my mission to convert jumpsuit wearers to The Set for a good list of reasons. Number one on the list is because using the loo is infinitely easier, and really that reason alone should convince anyone to make the switch. Honestly, how can anyone go back once they have tried a set? It is a genius invention and my life has improved for discovering sets for sure, your wardrobe will thank you.”

“At this point, I’d just like to give a brief shout out to Dad for sneakily measuring a top and trousers of Ma’s for me on request. It is worth noting that he sent me photos of the garments laid out flat on the floor with a builder’s tape measure extended flat over them. Not quiiiiiite what I had in mind, but I managed to work it out and appreciated it all the same, hahaha!”

“So with the sizes sorted, onto the patterns! The top pattern is a free download from Fabrics-Store, find it here: https://fabrics-store.com/sewing-patterns/agustina-agustina-boxy-top-pattern-.  It is a simple boxy design that can be worn loosely or tucked in. The pattern is easily printed at home on A4 paper, doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to stick together and was sewn together easily. 
The trousers pattern is also from Fabrics-Store, find it here: https://fabrics-store.com/sewing-patterns/cass-cass-wide-leg-culottes. Also a simple make, they came together easily. The three rows of elastic at the waistband may look intimidating but if you think of it as simply threading elastic through a casing three times instead of just the usual once it feels achievable. It also adds thoughtful detail at the waist, which looks great. Oh, and did I mention that it has pockets?? Two! On both side seams! TWO! Such Joy! 

The top and trousers can be worn together, with the top tucked in to achieve the jumpsuit look, or separately as an added bonus and extending the wearability of each piece. They look amazing in the bright Anna’s Garden fabric and I know Ma will love them! It is nice to think that she will be able to take a bit of the English garden home with her wearing this outfit. I cannot wait to give them to her!”