A visit to Liberty of London.

On Monday, John and I went on an adventure to Liberty of London. The history of Liberty from the internet tells me that in 1875 Arthur Lasenby Liberty borrowed £2000 from his future father in law and took a building on Regent Street London to set up an emporium that would be filled with luxuries and fabrics from distant lands. I'm so pleased he did as it is an amazing treasure trove (especially the fabrics). I didn't take a photo of the outside of the shop because I know I have one somewhere. The outside is so beautiful so I'll post the photo when I find it.  The reason for our visit to Liberty was to see their textile exhibition to celebrate their 150 years anniversary. John had never visited Liberty before and was amazed by how much was crammed into the space and the beauty that this created.

Over it's 150 years Liberty has been intwined with fabric, design, printing and selling the creations. In the run up to their anniversary they worked with their makers, designers from across the globe to create a supersized patchwork house. The house is made up of 1000 blocks and is on display from May to July this year. I took a photo of the house from above.

I took this photo level with the roof. I'm planning on visiting again before July so I can get more photos. 

The artwork below is a 1850's design for a painted shawl design.

another design from the same era.

Again another design from the same era. I love this design.

The following photos are of some of the fabrics and designs on display. I just love the vibrant colours.

Having spent a lot of time enjoying the exhibition I needed to stroke some fabric so I headed to the Tana Lawn. This fabric was developed by Liberty in the 1930's and its name comes from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. This is where the high quality cotton with long staple fibres used in this fabric originated. I love the feel of this fabric and it is also very durable and comes in really vibrant colours. This fabric also drapes very well and feels beautiful to wear. I saw several designed I liked but I had left my fabric notebook at home which helpfully tells me fabric requirements for my favourite blouse and dress patterns. Not a problem since the shop is just a tube (underground) journey away from where I live.

I really enjoyed our day out. I now need to plan in some dressmaking time and another trip to Liberty to buy the fabric I'll need. 

Take care

Lyndsey

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