Bunnies dancing. What’s not to like about that? Especially during Easter. And with random letters and the odd French horn too! This fabric isn’t vintage but reminded me of the feedsack fabrics my grandmother used in her quilts. I’m currently working it into a patchwork project – to be revealed soon. Happy Easter!
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I sneakily announced the winner yesterday, but so well hidden down in the comments that you probably didn’t see it. So, here’s the official gold envelope moment. [Cue drumroll] The upcycled bead was, in fact, … #4! Yes, the red one slap bang in the middle!
It was guessed correctly by the very first commenter, the keen-eyed Cat. Well done! If you can’t get to the workshop next Thursday, Cat, you can have a Liberty bead necklace kit instead. Just let me know which you’d prefer.
A big thank you to everyone else who took the time to guess, and commiserations to anyone who got the right answer but too late. Another time!
Liberty bead necklace
That particular piece of Liberty lawn, in a pattern named Matilda, came from a handmade blouse found in a local charity shop. Here’s a glimpse of it.
Blouse picked up at the charity shop
Maybe you wouldn’t have cut it up. I’m not sure I should have. But it was relatively cheap. And the making up wasn’t fabulous. It will certainly make an awful lot of beads. I also used a swatch of it when I made my everyday needlebook a while back. I tote it to workshops etc so gets hard wear. It’s the same one featured over here.
Matilda scrap on needlebook
If you’re interested in coming along to a Liberty bead necklace workshop, two are currently scheduled: Thursday 29th March (still spaces!) and one for Friday 18th May (each link take you straight to the bookings page). Both are morning sessions, 10.30am-1.30pm, here in Bath at Crockadoodledo, Larkhall’s lovely pottery-painting studio. Further details on my Classes page.
One for the necklace
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It’s official: happiness is a stack of Liberty fabrics and a handful of wooden beads!
Wooden beads
Liberty Tana lawn - smooth as silk
Liberty lawn with wooden bead
Liberty lawn necklace
As an appreciative nod to Bath in Fashion I’ll be running a Liberty bead necklace workshop making these simple yet luxurious objects at Crockadoodledo, Larkhall, Bath on Thursday 29th March, 10.30am to 1.30pm. The necklaces can include as many beads as you like, with every bead a statement of classic British textile design. This is really the perfect project to showcase your finer fabric scraps.
All materials are included in the workshop fee of £25. If you (or someone who loves you) is stuck for Mother’s Day, there’s also an alluring Mother’s Day offer of 20% off any booking made as a gift (reducing the fee to just £20!). If you book as a gift, I can also issue you with an attractive pdf gift certificate in time for Mother’s Day this weekend. As places on these workshops are limited, booking is essential so please don’t delay. Further details can be found on the Classes & Workshops page.
And finally, I’m delighted to be able to offer a FREE place on this workshop (or a Liberty necklace kit if you prefer) to the first person who can correctly identify which of the covered beads shown above was created from an upcycled Liberty scrap .
Yes, only one bead was made from an existing garment, rather than from a new offcut of cloth. Can you guess which?
I’ll take the first correct answer from the comments posted below (sorry, I can only take one answer per visitor). Just state the bead number (#1 is on the far left, #7 on far right), though if you can also give the name of the Liberty Tana Lawn pattern, all the better (that’s not essential, it just pleases my inner Liberty geek!). The only qualification to enter this giveaway is that you first mosey on over and like the Scrapiana Facebook page. This competition will close at midnight on Thursday 22nd March and I’ll announce the winner here on Friday 23rd. Please remember to tell me if you’d prefer a workshop space or a kit, and do leave a way for me to contact you, even if that’s in a separate email. Good luck!
PS This is, by default, the Scrapiana Scrap of the Week. I’ll feature it properly once it no longer has to remain incognito.
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Liberty Tana lawn
Three Liberty lawns
Liberty Tana lawn has got to be one of my favourite fabrics ever. I really can’t help being a Tana-phile; it’s so soft, floaty and fine, the designs so delicate and detailed (usually), the colours so vivid, and it’s such a joy to work. So I make no apology for coming back to it time and again as my Scrap of the Week. Here’s how strongly I feel about it: I’ve given up alcohol for Lent, but giving up lawn would be too great a test of character. Are you a Liberty lawn freak too? The confessional booth is empty so step right in and purge your soul via the comment box!
These pieces (and many more) are about to be wrapped around wooden beads and balls and transformed into beautifully bold and tactile necklaces for my forthcoming Scrapiana Liberty Bead Necklace Workshop on Thursday 29th March at Crockadoodledo here in Larkhall, Bath. Astonishingly, I still have spaces, so if you want to spend the morning absorbed in this sumptuous make, please join me. There’s even a 20% off Mother’s Day deal! Just shoot me an email at eirlys@scrapiana.com and I’ll add your name to my list.
This workshop falls during the Bath in Fashion 2012 event, and there’s an awful lot of exciting things happening. If you hoped to hear Manolo Blahnik speak, however, I hate to tell you but you’re already too late (sold out).
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Death by mustard
These hexagon flowers have been meticulously hand-pieced then machine-applied to a massive ’70s bedspread which I picked up in a charity shop a while back.
I really don’t like the ground fabrics at all: greeny oatmeal plus mustard textiles, presumably leftovers from curtain projects. Thankfully, the entire item is threadbare around the edges, so I’m toying with the idea of releasing the appliquéd patchwork portions for another purpose. Each hexagon grouping is 13.5 cms across. And there are a lot of them. There are also some bigger hexagon sections which would make great bags or cushions, if teamed with more sympathetic textiles.
Whoever created these hexies was obviously a perfectionist as their pattern placement was scrupulous.
It occurs to me that if anyone out there is staging (or re-shooting) The Good Life, this would look just perfect on Margo Leadbetter’s washing line, or possibly covering Tom & Barbara’s sofa. And now I’m beginning to get flash-backs of the mustard dralon sofas and avocado bathroom suites of my childhood so had better go. Enjoy your week!
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I haven’t been sharing any vintage scraps with you for a while, so here’s a floral curtain (late 1960s or early 1970s, I’m guessing) to kick off my 2012 offerings. This is one of my latest lucky finds at the charity shop.
Orange petals, green stamens
Flower Power
Leaf motif
Scalloped vertical
All my pictures are crooked (it’s been one of those days), but you can still see the charm of the textile, I hope: the bright orange flowers ( which are about 4.5cms across), the insistent vertical stripes. The fabric is substantial yet quite supple – definitely a furnishing weight – in either cotton or linen or a mixture of the two. There’s no marking at all on the selvedges so that could indicate an artisanal piece. The slightly wonky pattern placement here and there points the same way. If you know what this is, where it’s from, or have anything similar in your stash, I’d love to hear from you.
Now, what would you make with this? It screams “GYPSY CARAVAN CURTAINS!!!” to me (in the very best possible way), maybe with giant apple-green ric-rac or bobble edging and a lovely contrast lining. But then, I’m badly in need of a holiday. This fabric’s a little too much for most uses without a little judicious dilution, I reckon. Paired with the right solid or two (and restrained use of aforementioned jumbo ric-rac) it could make a really vibrant cushion, apron, tea-cosy or hand bag. It’s a little bigger than most of my scraps. In fact, there’s quite a lot of it (two curtains, each 88cms wide from selvedge to selvedge and 2 metres long) so plenty of scope for ingenuity.
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Liberty Tana lawn scrap with strawberry motif
This jaunty scrap came in a job-lot of Liberty offcuts. I’ll probably applique it onto a needlebook cover, or possibly turn it into a part of a lavender bag. I don’t know the name of the pattern, nor the artist, but wish I did. Don’t those strawberries look like they have lots of sleepy eyes?
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Vintage Laura Ashley strawberry scrap
I know, strawberries are not the only fruit, but a theme’s a theme. This is one of my favourite strawberry prints. It’s a small scrap of brushed dress cotton by Laura Ashley, circa 1980, with an impossibly small strawberry motif: so small I only spotted it while wearing my currently strawberry-tinted spectacles.
I only have a few small scraps of this, sans selvedge, so I don’t know the name of it. Can anyone help me? I think I have just enough to make one or two limited edition very small strawberry emeries, which is just what I’ll do. The rich ruby colour is represented best by the picture below.
Vintage Laura Ashley strawberries
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Feedsack strawberries
This is a gorgeous original American feedsack strawberry print (have you noticed I like strawberries yet?) from Becca Gauldie. I’m afraid I’ve already snapped this one up, but Becca has a whole lot more. I don’t intend to do anything with it for now: it’s an entire feedsack, not just a teeny scrap, so there’s plenty to play with, but I really haven’t found the right project for it.
And thinking about strawberries in June inevitably leads my thoughts to tennis. Will you be watching Wimbledon this year? My viewing will be restricted to edited TV highlights only, alas. One of my friends has lucked out in the ballot and actually won tickets for the men’s final! I’m sure I could fit in her handbag if I try. Who will you be rooting for to win? Have you ever been to Wimbledon? Did you sample the strawberries and cream while you were there? Rub shoulders with any tennis stars? Please share your summer tennis stories! I love ‘em!
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My attention span is perfectly suited to short, cute films at the moment — being currently like a small rabbit mesmerized by the media headlights — so what a delight it was to be sent this one by the thoughtful Becky Button (who also mailed me, unasked, this load of strawberry-suitable scraps last week, along with some bespoke Scrapiana lettering she’d made – you star, Becky!). The routine kindness of the crafting community is breathtaking.
Gifts from Becky Button
Just before you watch, I must tell you that I’ve posted a new Classes page here. Do check it out for details of the Vintage Strawberry Workshops I’m teaching this summer, and keep returning for news of other upcycling classes going forward. I now have a dedicated Facebook page for Scrapiana and have foolishly given up tea until my ‘like’ total reaches 100. At time of writing I was stuck at 78, so please take pity on poor uncaffeinated me.
The following short film is a treasure of stop-motion animation. And there are buttons. Lots of them. Enjoy!
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