Give Me Liberty...Fabrics

New Season Liberty Fabrics

For all you fabric freaks out there Liberty London has just launched its new season A/W 13 range. Liberty Art Fabrics are always beautiful but this collection seems to be taking a different turn to the usual ditsy florals. It is inspired by the epic poem The Earthly Paradise by William Morris, the prologue is below.

OF Heaven or Hell I have no power to sing,
I cannot ease the burden of your fears,
Or make quick-coming death a little thing,
Or bring again the pleasure of past years,
Nor for my words shall ye forget your tears,	5
Or hope again for aught that I can say,
The idle singer of an empty day.
But rather, when aweary of your mirth,
From full hearts still unsatisfied ye sigh,
And, feeling kindly unto all the earth,	10
Grudge every minute as it passes by,
Made the more mindful that the sweet days die—
—Remember me a little then I pray,
The idle singer of an empty day.
The heavy trouble, the bewildering care	15
That weighs us down who live and earn our bread,
These idle verses have no power to bear;
So let me sing of names remembered,
Because they, living not, can ne’er be dead,
Or long time take their memory quite away	20
From us poor singers of an empty day.
Dreamer of dreams, born out of my due time,
Why should I strive to set the crooked straight?
Let it suffice me that my murmuring rhyme
Beats with light wing against the ivory gate,	25
Telling a tale not too importunate
To those who in the sleepy region stay,
Lulled by the singer of an empty day.
Folk say, a wizard to a northern king
At Christmas-tide such wondrous things did show,	30
That through one window men beheld the spring,
And through another saw the summer glow,
And through a third the fruited vines a-row,
While still, unheard, but in its wonted way,
Piped the drear wind of that December day.	35
So with this Earthly Paradise it is,
If ye will read aright, and pardon me,
Who strive to build a shadowy isle of bliss
Midmost the beating of the steely sea,
Where tossed about all hearts of men must be;	40
Whose ravening monsters mighty men shall slay,
Not the poor singer of an empty day.

Morris' episodic poem shows fairy tale and ancient mythology inspiration. This influence can be seen in a lot of the fabric prints.

Branch Flower D - Liberty Art Fabrics

Not so much in others.

Hunter Trunk A - Liberty Art fabrics

Not sure how many trucks there were in Ancient Greece.

Still, it's nice to see Liberty mixing it up a bit. As well as The Earthly Paradise, the designers of the fabric also took influence from "Icelandic adventures, audio prints, tattoos on Tana Lawn, almost edible conversationals and fragrant florals." A pretty eclectic mix but then this is an eclectic collection, ranging from detailed peacocks to colour block houses.

Growing Fonder B - Liberty Art Fabrics

Samols A - Liberty Art Fabrics

Rose A - Liberty Art Fabrics

Stanley B - Liberty Art Fabrics

Ranga C - Liberty Art Fabrics

I particularly like the open, natural prints.

Manning B - Liberty Art Fabrics

But I also like this simple horse print. It would make a lovely summer dress. If only I could sew.

Kussman A - Liberty Art Fabrics

Check out the new fabrics here.

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Rag Rug: Stage One

I've recently moved house and, as I'm sure you'll know if you've been in the same situation, it seems to be soaking up money. Even though I've been given a lot of hand-me-downs, the bills keep piling up (literally, there is a rather high water bill that I am ignoring and hoping will go away).

The bedroom has bare floorboards, which look lovely, but are rather cold. Instead of buying a rug I've decided I'm going to try and make one to save on money and use up all the fabric I have lying around. I was inspired by this tutorial from Jaime at www.our-everyday-art.com.

She uses a non-skid rug mat as a base but I couldn't find one that was affordable so I got a metre of Hessian Sacking from Minerva Crafts. Sacking's been used in rug making for centuries; it was normally combined with scraps of old textiles and clothes that were cut or torn into strips. That is what I did with my fabric. They're approximately 8cm long but I wasn't being exact, that's the beauty of this sort of project, you can be messy.

I then threaded them through two holes in the Hessian. You can use a hook or a 'prodder' to do this but I found that scissors were just as good. I then tied the fabric in a knot to secure it.

I left a gap of a few threads between each piece of fabric to stop the hessian unravelling.

It's pretty easy but very time consuming, those three lines took me two hours. But it's quite therapeutic to do sitting in front of the TV. I'm hoping it will look good when it's finished, check back in about ten years to see the results!

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If I Were a Rich (Wo)Man

Pinterest is a dangerous thing; it exposes us to a whole range of objects that we wouldn't usually notice but, once seen, we feel we have to own.

My funds are very low at the moment and, even though it is pay day, I'm living in my overdraft. But I've put together a little wishlist of the items that have caught my eye this week, that, if money were no problem, I would already have snapped up.

First up is this beautiful creation.

Erikson Beamon Embellished Silk Gown - Net-A-Porter

This luscious bottle-green dress has been created exclusively for Net-A-Porter, the so called discount site. I love the beaded sleeves and the 1920's cut but, at £3,440, it's ridiculously out of my price range. See if you can afford it here.


Next up, fabric designer Amy Butler has brought out her new Blue Imperial range of bags in collaboration with Kalencom.

Amy Butler for Kalencom - Blue Imperial Collection

Look at that happy cow with her many bags and her frankly bizarre shoes.

Anyway, if you haven't seen Amy Butler's fabrics they are a combination of feminine and psychedelic and are really rather beautiful. She's continued this in her new range. It has quite a few fashion and travel bags but I'm drawn to this one the most.

Marni Duffle Bag with Ribbon - Amy Butler for Kalencom

I love the print plus it's so big it could hold all my junk. Check out the rest of the collection here.


Before I get to my next one-day-buy I have a question; Why are beanbags so expensive? They're just foam and fabric but some of them are as pricey as a fully upholstered armchair. I should really attempt to make my own but that seems like far too much effort.
If you haven't guessed, my next item is a beanbag, actually a beanbag chair to be precise, much fancier.

Beanbag in Avinon 132-15 - Dekoria

At £60.99 this isn't the most expensive one I've seen but it's still too much for me. It's from a great site called Dekoria which sells fabrics and homewares. The fun thing about it is you can get the beanbag in any of the fabrics, and there are over 1,000 options! Waste an afternoon looking at them all here.

I can't torment myself for much longer so I'm just going to share one more thing; these lovely Miniature Amethyst and Geode Pendants by PLUME.

PLUME Miniature Amethyst and Geode Pendants - Decadorn

If I was the type to employ multiple exclamation marks, I'd use them to show how much I love these (!!!!) but I'm not so that's enough of that. I still would really like one of these necklaces though and am thinking of trying to persuade someone to buy me one as an early birthday present (three months early). There's also a host of other pretty sparkly things on the Decadorn site, see them here.

That's about as much as I can take. I may make this a regular thing, tormenting myself, so stop on by again.

Happy Friday!

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Liberty Print Nike Trainers, Yay or Nay?

If you're a big Pinterest user you'll probably know about this already, but if not, I'll fill you in. The two power houses of Liberty and Nike have combined forces to bring you the Nike X Liberty range of trainers (original name yes?). Not two companies you'd usually think to put together. They've brought out three styles, the Blazer Mid, Roshe Run and the iconic Air Max.

I've been looking at these all day and I still can't decide if they're beautiful or deadly pretentious. Let's face it, they're probably both. I'm not a big sportswear fan but generally when you think of sporting items you think of Nike, the well known tick is a sign of approval. Similarly, whether you're a fabric fiend or not, Liberty is arguably the most famous haberdashery in the world and the prints are instantly recognisable.No matter how much I tell myself that the fabrics are overrated, that there are much cheaper versions just as good, it's not true, they really are faint-making.

Lodden C Tana Lawn

And have you been in the Liberty shop? It's so beautiful it's ridiculous and history just seems to seep from the walls.

So, thinking about it, I would rather like a pair, preferably the blue Capel Liberty Print Roshe Run ones.

Capel Liberty Print Roshe Run Trainers

But the main thing that puts me off is that I just know they are going to become the staple footwear of Yummy Mummies everywhere, the item of choice for when they take their Labradoodles for a mud free walk. Many pairs will also be purchased by Frumpy Mummies who are desperately trying to keep up with the Yummies. I just can't face being part of that club yet (in large part due to the fact that I am not a Mummy).

Did I say that was the main reason for me not wanting a pair? I forgot the not so small problem of the price. Maybe Yummies have £145 to spend on trainers but this impoverished journalist doesn't.

Still, I keep finding myself looking at them, so maybe there's a bit of Yummy in me waiting to get out.

Check them out on Liberty's site.

Dolls and Daydreams

Just a quick post.
My friend is pregnant with her first baby and I've been looking for presents to get her that aren't the usual pink or blue rubbish. I came across these sewing patterns by Dolls and Daydreams.

Teddy Bear Sewing Pattern

I'm not brilliant at sewing but I reckon I could learn for these.

Pocket Prince Knight Sewing Pattern

I love how they've got an old fashioned feel, without any sparkly bits, but are also modern. I can imagine one of these becoming a much loved favourite toy.

Little Red and Wolf Sewing Pattern

I have a few months until the baby's here so I can get practising.

Elephant Sewing Pattern