Storytelling, craftsmanship and history: The evolution of your favourite fabrics with Liberty
Since 1875, Liberty has been designing and printing timeless fabrics which tell a story. Their unique collections beautifully combine new artwork with heritage archive designs to create fabrics that crafters adore, but just how do they do it?
Embark on a journey with us through the evolution of fabric design and discover the secrets behind creating bespoke fabrics.
Rework, reimagine, redesign
Located in the heart of London, the Liberty design studio is home to some of the UK’s most highly skilled designers. Working as a team, these incredible artists conceptualise, rework, and hand-draw hundreds of artworks to create designs that are unique to Liberty.
The archive acts as a living, breathing source of inspiration. The design team draw from it but also works tirelessly to give back. This ensures the archive is always growing, filling with new, reimagined designs to keep it fresh and exciting. The selected designs may have started life as part of a different collection, but the dedicated design team work together to reconceptualise the print and turn it into contemporary fashion, interiors and crafting fabric.
The crafter is always kept in mind throughout the design process. Liberty and its design team are passionate about creating timeless quilting fabrics that are both practical and beautiful. They keep an open line of communication with the crafting community to ensure their fabrics work well for quilting from both an aesthetic and technical point of view.
In fact, sometimes these new designs aren't technically possible! Liberty works closely with the mill and the production process to find a solution, making sure the original artworks can be printed, ready for us crafters to purchase and use. The dedication the design team has for providing the crafting community with the very best innovative fabrics is something we admire!
Conceptualising the collections
The first step for the artists is conceptualising the story behind the collection. This story is then visualised using a moodboard to help the designers explore the theme and storytelling of the collection.
Each artist is encouraged to use their creativity when it comes to moodboarding. On their moodboards, you’ll find photos of different subjects, galleries and exhibitions – anything they find interesting or inspiring. This creative freedom allows the artists to create designs and patterns that are unlike any other fabrics on the market. Next, the artists work together to create a narrative for the collection. Once the narrative is secured, the team work out what kind of imagery they’d like to use in the collection and puts these into headings.
Headings, history and heritage fabrics
The carefully selected headings and moodboard are then sent to the dedicated archive team at Liberty. This knowledgeable team search through the renowned 60,000-piece archive, finding the perfect original artworks to fit the headings.
The designers then sift through the archive team’s selected artworks, ensuring each image fits the new collection’s concept and visual identity. This rich archive is responsible for adding the heritage and history to each collection and is integral to the design process.
19th century meets 21st century design
Here is where heritage blends with the modern era. The designers will look for any potential artwork gaps, either creating new designs, repainting archival prints or combining them into one artwork, offering a fresh take on timeless designs.
When creating a new artwork or repainting an archival design, each designer draws on their local environment for inspiration. Whether it’s taking photos of the natural world or visiting a nearby florist to draw directly from the flowers, this step ensures each design embodies the spirit of nature.
From the start to the finish of the design process, each artist ensures they use mediums which align with the Liberty look and feel. The designers favour using fineliners and gouache, which not only fit the Liberty style but also translate well into creating flat colour designs, specifically for those printed onto Lasenby cotton.
Now that artwork from the archive has been selected and new designs are complete, they are scanned into a computer. Here, the designs are separated and each colour is given its own layer, allowing the designers greater control over the individual hues. Sometimes the archival pieces need to be digitally redrawn, which can take a while!
Colourwork
The final step in the design process is all about colour. Colour boards are created, which provide a sense of direction for the collection and allow the designers to focus on a specific colour palette. This colour scheme is created from photos the designers have taken, swatches of coloured fabric they favour, and the Liberty archive.
These colours are then added to the digital design files and given the finishing touches before they’re sent off to Liberty’s own printing mill in the beautiful Lake Como.
From London to Italy
These intricate designs are then printed and finished in the Liberty Italian mill. Millions of metres of fabric move through printing, steaming, washing and softening processes every year. Finally, the fabric is quality checked by eagle-eyed technologists before being cut, rolled and shipped around the globe.
The design process ends at your door
Designed in London and made in Italy, the evolution of fabric design is one that spans continents but ends in your hands. Both the Tana Lawn™ and Lasenby cotton fabrics follow this meticulous design process, resulting in two fabrics that are a must-have for stitchers and quilters.
Lasenby cotton is our go-to fabric choice for sewing and quilting. Perfect for those who enjoy fussy cutting and English paper piecing, this 100% cotton fabric is durable and features a huge range of designs from the Liberty collection.
Stitch your dream homewares, clothing and accessories with the Liberty Fabric collection and watch as you continue the fabric's evolutionary process with your creativity!
Shop the Liberty Fabrics range
Explore the Lasenby cotton collection over on Liberty Fabrics, and start your creative journey.
