Summer Liberty Love

By
We recently received our summer delivery of Liberty Tana Lawns here at The Drapery, and they've inspired some serious drooling.

They're amazing fabrics and yes, they're on the pricey side, but don't let them intimidate you. Simple garments can be the best way to showcase a Liberty print. The width of the fabric (137cm) means a little can go a surprisingly long way. As far as 'special' fabrics go Liberty is extremely easy-care, being a fine cotton, so you can wash and wear your Liberty garments all summer long. Don't just save them for best! To keep your colours as vibrant as possible, hang to dry out of direct sun.

Fiona and I of course consider it our duty to demonstrate some of the uses of Liberty for your inspiration. Here's the simple, lovely and comfortable Roberts Collection Top (pattern by Marilla Walker) in Liberty 'Melting Elements'.
(The elements were indeed a bit melty this day so excuse the wrinkles.) Worn with perennial favourite Grainline Moss Skirt.
This pattern comes together quickly, and the Liberty takes beautifully to the flat-felled seams required, which give a lovely finish. Just one metre was required for this top, and it could even be eked out of 70cm if a different fabric was used for the facings.

I just can't seem to get enough of this pattern, and it's not even one we sell in the shop so there's no reason for me to be plugging it except to say it's awesome! (View B is on my wish-list now.)

Here's another version of the Roberts Top made from a soft, yarn-dyed Japanese check cotton, and the back view showing the seaming that adds interest to an otherwise very simple shape.

This one's been in very high rotation this summer, usually with Deer and Doe Chataigne Shorts, so it is great to welcome a Liberty version into my wardrobe.

What's your ideal Liberty garment?

- Jane & Fiona xx

Comments

  1. Inder-ificFebruary 8, 2016 at 5:15 PM

    Cute!!! That v-neck is so flattering on you, Jane! And it's perfect with that skirt. Of course, it never hurts to see a garment made up in Liberty! Lovely lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 9, 2016 at 1:08 AM

    I bought some Liberty fabric to make ties (until I realised I could buy them ready made) so have a metre of fabric that has been waiting for something special. Maybe this is the thing to do with it and stop being so precious about the fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 6:30 AM

    Very good. wonderful work done by Jane. thanks for share this.

    African Wax Print, African George Fabric

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

We love to know who's reading and what you think so please leave us a comment! We'll also try to answer any questions you may have.

Popular posts from this blog

Care of your Boiled Wool

By
Image
We have some lovely 100% boiled wools at The Drapery for this first time this year. The care of these fabrics was a bit of a mystery to us as well as to you, so we've done some investigation. Will my boiled wool shrink if I wash it at home? More than likely, yes. That surprised us, too. One would guess since the fabric is called 'boiled wool' and has a felted, non-fray texture, that it is pre-shrunk and would not shrink further. Not so - please be well aware! Here's what we found: We tried three kinds of gentle washing: - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle', 30 degrees , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. - Gentle hand wash, warm , with wool wash liquid, rinse, press dry in a towel. - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle' cold , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. In both warm washes (machine and hand) the wool experienced 10 - 15% shrinkage in length. There was little to no shrinkage in width. The cold wash showed sligh...
Read more

Boiled Wool Shrug - free tutorial

By
Image
We have some luscious boiled wools in stock at The Drapery right now, and have put together a free tutorial for possibly the easiest garment you'll ever make! Searching for boiled wool inspiration, we came across this simple and lovely shrug by Manda of Treefall Design, who was inspired by a ready-to-wear piece. We whipped up a couple of prototypes in the shop and arrived at this which takes just a 75cm cut of fabric and three straight seams. Edges can all be left raw because boiled wool does not fray! REQUIREMENTS 75cm x boiled wool , ours is 150cm wide - would also work in wool knit fabric such as this Japanese wool blend (or this one ) and this Merino Rib Gutermann Sew-All thread in matching colour Cut about 50 - 55cm in from each selvedge so you have 2 pieces approx. 50 x 75cm, each with a 75cm fluffy selvedge. The piece from the middle is spare so you can use it for another project, or perhaps to embellish your shrug. Pin your pieces together along th...
Read more

Pattern freebie: mini dachshund jacket

By
Image
** ETA Dec 2020: Sorry! Due to technical issues (a broken laptop where the pattern was stored) this pattern is no longer available. You can use the illustrations of the pattern pieces below as guide by taking the measurement of the length of your dog's back to correspond to the length of the jacket body along the fold line. Alternatively, we recommend you try the new free dog jacket pattern by Closet Case here .  When we published a photo on Instagram of one of our dogs (wee Lola, above) wearing a jacket made from the scraps from one of our projects recently, we had a few requests to share the pattern. So here it is! A quick guide to how I make a my dog jackets. This is a super simple pattern that is easily adaptable to the size of your dog. But please note that the straps are short and the body long on this pattern to fit the long n’ low dachshund in particular as most jackets are too short for their gorgeous sausagey bodies.  Pattern pieces are below in JPG forma...
Read more