Spring/Summer 2011 Liberty of London

How do I put this....I love Liberty, I love florals and I love Children's books so I can't help thinking this collection was designed specifically with the Fox in mind. Or, perhaps my loves are not so unique to me....clearly others love the combination too. Liberty has released their Spring/Summer 2011 Tana Lawn fabric designs and there is no shortage of fabulousness amongst them. These newest collections take inspiration from the world of Children's illustration. I think the result is a range of designs that exhibit a wonderful spirit and playful character. Here are my picks....

Delfie, Pep and Tuesday Trees by Lauren Child

Lauren Child is the award-winning illustrator, most recognised for her characters ‘Charlie and Lola’ and ‘Clarice Bean’, who were first introduced in two series of children's books. "Lauren’s fabric designs are a mixture of an original ‘Clarice Bean’ she has created for Liberty, and patterns inspired by Liberty Archive prints she has selected personally. Delfie is based around an archival print with wrought iron swirls, created by Gillian Farr in the early 60s. The result is a beautiful heart-shaped floral check, decorated with classic Liberty print flowers and acorns."- Liberty

 

Pep takes inspiration from the cherry blossom and the result is a stylised floral pattern and Tuesday Trees cleverly references archival Liberty prints in it's forest pattern. 

 Plum Dog and Ian Rhodes by Emma Chichester Clark

Emma Chichester Clark was taught by the singularly unique Quentin Blake. "She has won the ‘Mother Goose’ award for her children’s book illustrations. This series of designs was inspired by her book ‘Eliza and the Moonchild’. Created for Liberty, ‘Plum Dog’ is an original print featuring Emma’s beloved dog Plum. Ian Rhodes features a hand-painted used watercolour box, evoking Eliza’s need to paint everything she sees in the ‘Moonchild’ story. "-Liberty

  

Olivia Strange and Reuben Kelly by David McKee

David McKee is an award-winning illustrator and the creator of the legendary Mr Benn stories, a character that was turned into a British children’s television programme in the 70s depicting the bowler hatted Benn having magical adventures sparked by visits to a costume shop. "The illustration created for this collection was hand painted by David, and designs were based around an image of Mr Benn about to embark on an adventure as a Liberty Print Knight. Inspired by the swirls on a shop keeper’s jacket, Olivia Strange features a ribbon shop of ribbons. Rueben Kelly shows Maypole ribbons cascading down the fabric, a design inspired by a shopkeeper’s stripy trousers. "

You know I love ribbons so I have to say that Olivia Strange is my absolute favourite, but there is so much variety in this collection that there is a pattern for everyone to fall in love with this season. See for yourself here.

L is for Liberty of London

As far as fabric design goes, Liberty sits at the top of my list of favourites. Delicate floral prints, bold paisleys, peacock feathers, a myriad of colours, classic and modern design, all with a distinctly British feel. You know by now that Liberty did a collection for Target, but their range and quality goes far beyond these few prints.

My favourites...

Bourton, W

Caesar, B

Felicite, G

Wiltshire, S

When I was at school in Edinburgh (over 20 years ago now, where has the time gone?), we had a huge Liberty store and my pocket money went on collecting their range of fabric covered picture frames and accessories. It was my equivalent of going to a sweet shop. I still love them as much now as I did then.

To their immense credit, Liberty has consistently moved with the times through collaborations with notable contemporary designers (Mac, Nike).

I covet their Nike x Liberty Dunk sneakers (above) and Nike x Liberty Blazer sneakers (below), and own a fair bit of the Target line.

If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Liberty London store, you have to put it on your list. It is a veritable monument to design and the window displays are insane.

(image source Wikipedia)

HANDMADE THERAPY

PROJECT 5: FABRIC WALL ART

Watch out, I am positively BURSTING with creativity this week!!

Still limiting myself to No-Sew projects with maximum impact/minimum effort, today I created beautiful fabric wall art. Basically, I took some fat quarters of insanely gorgeous Heather Bailey fabric ($2.75 each...can't beat it!) and stretched and tacked them over artist's canvases I bought at Michael's for about $5 each. Simple!

It is basically like gift wrapping a book, tucking in the edges and tacking them down. I wouldn't say I was as neat as I could have been, but I figure no-one sees the back anyway! Just make sure you keep the right amount of tension on the fabric to leave the finished piece wrinkle free.

Don't you just love how simple this is and how easily you can add colour/pattern to a room using this technique? Total cost per framed fabric piece...$7. Love it.

Ta Da!! My newly decorated bedroom wall...notice the Liberty for Target candle? Yum!

BULLSEYE

Just dropping in briefly today to let you know what you probably already know...that the Liberty of London for Target collection is available on-line and in stores NOW!!

I hit it early today and snagged my top pics (except procrastinated over the cake stand and when I went back to it, it was sold out already).

Here are just a few of the fabulous things I love from the range. Some I bought, others were unavailable at the time, all are gorgeous by the looks of it. Really hope they are as fab in the flesh as they look on-line, or I am going to have a major meltdown.







Yup, truly gorgeous stuff, I know. Go on, have a browse around on-line. I promise you will be there for a while. Probably a good thing for me that the nearest Target is over an hour away and in another State. I can't tell you how much I want to get my hands on the Stationary which is only sold in-store! Aaahhh...

(All images courtesy of Target, obviously)