We're currently in a cold snap and it's also accompanied by rain, but I'm dreaming of Spring and warmer temps. It's easy to forget about the dreary days though when sewing up Liberty Fabrics' newest collection,
The Emporium Collection, coming soon to Riley Blake Designs.
This collection is inspired by the historical architecture in Liberty's iconic London store. Each colorway represents a different area of the storefront. The Emporium Collection is a mix of floral, paisley, and geometric designs.
You can read the inspiration of each print here!
Look at these gorgeous prints! I've been dying to see Liberty Fabrics in person and it does not disappoint. I actually originally chose the bright floral print in the middle front (above picture), but the yardage I needed wasn't enough. I went back to the drawing board and was drawn to the
Two Daisy Bazaar A -- this print was inspired by a paper impression in one of Liberty's oldest pattern books. How cool is that?! To coordinate, I found Turner A which picked up the green accents in the tiny flowers of main print. This print is based off an old fabric swatch in their archive from 1880!!
These fabrics were giving me preppy vibes and I wanted to pick just the right patterns to show them off. I thought about a dress but my daughter has SO many dresses (and more slated to be sewn) so I enlisted her help in the design process. We turned to my extensive collection of pictures of my past sews to see if she found something she liked. We stumbled across a picture of her sister from a few years ago in her Saltwater Skirt by Ainslee Fox for One Thimble Magazine. With the skirt sorted, we needed a top now. I remembered the woven crop top from Duchess and Hare's Give Piece a Chance, also for One Thimble. Using just the lining pattern pieces and a little modification to both the length and the side seams, we had a perfectly preppy Spring outfit.
I ended up making modifications to both patterns to create exactly what I had pictured. The Saltwater Skirt has instructions for a faux wrap skirt, but I simplified it even further so the front wrap is attached to the skirt seam. It reduced a few steps for me and the end result is almost identical. Of course, I added the pockets! She always wonders where they are when I don't take the time to add them in.
For the top, I knew she would not want a crop top length. I added two inches to the front and three inches to the back. Then I added vented side seams. It ended up being the perfect length in the front to show off the cute tie.
I love the weight of this fabric. It has the perfect "poof" in this short, full skirt. When I started to hem the skirt with the deep 1" hem, I realized I really didn't want to see my hem stitches on the the front. I decided to switch to a blind hem and it was absolutely worth ripping the original hem out. (Check out
this tutorial I wrote two years ago for step-by-step instructions for sewing a blind hem.)
It looks like The Emporium Collection has been delayed until March, but it is absolutely worth the wait! I'm so in love with the quality of it as well as the outfit my daughter and I designed together.
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