Fabric Friday: Liberty and Chambray

By
This Fabric Friday we're sharing a combination we're currently really crushing on: Liberty of London Tana Lawns paired with chambrays. (Actually we have a considerably larger collection of chambrays in store than currently online, so we might need to update the web shop!)

'Bourton' pocket on 'Otter' chambray. (Deer and Doe Arum dress, soon to be revealed!)

Chambray is a plain-weave cotton in a versatile mid-shirting-weight, generally with quite nice drape, excellent for shirts, skirts, dresses and more. It has a characteristic weave of coloured yarn in the warp and white in the weft, creating a softly mottled effect. It's similar to the look of denim but without denim's twill weave, which creates a diagonal line.

Here's 'Phoebe' with a classic blue chambray in our shop sample Adelaide Sundress.


'Byrne' with its darker tones is set off nicely by this bright yellow/green. (Okay, technically probably a crossweave or shot cotton but it lives on the chambray shelf!)
 'Ten Six' is good friends with this silvery-grey chambray.
 'Sarah' plays well with this green/black crossweave.
And below is Bourton and Otter again, demonstrating the visual pleasure of the sewing process with Liberty and chambray! Because  enjoying the process is often just as important as the outcome, isn't it?
Liberty and Chambray... come and find your perfect pairing at The Drapery!

- Jane & Fiona xx

Comments

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

Pattern Review: In The Folds Jumpsuit (free pattern for Peppermint Magazine)

By
Image
Did someone say jumpsuit? Free pattern? By fantastic Australian designer In The Folds ? I was onto it like a shot! Pattern promo pic: I certainly hope Emily of In The Folds is paid quite well by Peppermint Magazine for the patterns she designs for them, because she's a thorough professional. This is a great pattern, a really well-constructed blank slate for individual interpretation or just a really clean, simple silhouette. So thanks Peppermint Magazine , for making this available to sewists everywhere (and for encouraging sewing in general)! And thanks Emily for the fab designs (more online here ). I made a muslin, which we always recommend and is particularly wise for a fabric-hungry pattern like this. You really don't want to use your 'good' fabric until you're sure of what you're doing. Muslin legs not full length because that was not necessary to check fit The pattern states that it's designed for a height of 5'7" which is a good f
Read more

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