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Friday 10 June 2016

Liberty Linden Love

Ok, so I wear, a lot, of Melbourne Black, 
and navy....
and some other colours..... 
which escape me at the moment...
One colour that's pretty much missing from my wardrobe is shocking pink.

Of course, it's the perfect colour to add a bit of brightness to my winter palette. Primarily as it can't clash with anything ;)

I'm not usually a huge Liberty print fan (sacrilege, I know), I adore the feel of their Tana lawn, but the prints don't often grab me. This is Kindle* a tonal print with subtle little florals and foliage, totally gorgeous, and, well, yes, very, very pink.
*(from the Liberty of London website): Kindle Liberty print was sketched while listening to the Elysian singers perform at The Royal Festival Hall. The final hand drawn repeat has the design Elysian woven into its sound waves.

I actually had a shopping cart open on The Fabric Store's NZ  site when the word went out that it had landed in the Melbourne store... I blame Instagram (you know who you are... yes ... you... and yes, you too....)

And yes, a family trip was made the next morning so I could feel it IRL and once patted, it came home with me.
It's very perfectly fleecy, and even more so after a trip through the washing machine.
Essentially it is a woven though. I considered making another drop shouldered top, in the style of my much adored black wool awesome thing:
And then my love for my new vintage wool woven Linden won out and I made View A.
This is the size 8, with 2cm taken out of the back raglan seams, reducing to nothing by 7cm.
The sleeves are simply turned and stitched. I know much has been discussed of the long arms of the pattern as drafted and I didn't include the cuff. I do like warm hands however and would use the same arm length if I made it again (with added cuffs)
Silliness prevails. The weather conspired against this photoshoot for nearly a month.
Removing 4cm from the back neckline has brought it in nicely as well, as drafted, the Linden is a tad wider than I prefer in a rounded neckline. The boatneck on my black top is just a bit wide for many layering options and I wanted this top to be a non-drafty winter staple.
I felt very indulgent as I cut my neckline on the bias - such an inefficient use of fabric! It was worth it though. I had previously stabilised the entire neckline with iron on stay tape (yes, I love it!) and after carefully stitching the bias on, it was 'sticky-uppery' ;( I nearly cried.
I do love the cross over of our fibre arts though, I channelled my inner knitter, went into blocking mode and ignored that I wasn't playing with wool . I simply saturated the neckline pieces and patted them back into shape. After some steaming with my iron, the neckline was perfectly snugged - yes, I'm rather chuffed with my neckline.

The hip hem is taken straight from my black jumper. It's a piece of straight grain fabric, the circumference of my hips, folded and sewn to a slightly gathered bottom edge of garment. It keeps out any winter breeze and allows the top to blouson over a belt or winter padding.
Silly poses aside, it's the first top in a while to have elicited random unsolicited compliments - although, they were mostly on how lovely it was to see me in pink....
*For a hint on my previous (BL, Before Liberty) pink aversion, I mentioned a pink 80's windcheater with koalas in my 2014 black post...

14 comments:

  1. I have put this fabric in my shopping basket lots of times too! This looks amazing on you. It's a great choice of pattern too.

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    1. Thanks Louise (& Stuart!). It's the first time I've 'really' wanted a Liberty fabric. I admit to being heavily influenced by Anna's floral Linden and I surprised myself by adoring the pink Kindle. The Linden does seem to be perfectly versatile, and suits most of us, just what we want in a pattern!

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  2. Great fabric, Awesome photos. Love the 'tight' bottom band. I'm so pleased we are twins!

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    1. Thanks Anna, it makes me happy that we're twins as well ;) I do love how different the same pattern and fabric are when personalised, we're happily fraternal twins ;)

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  3. Such a cheery colour, I love the band modification (no point having a cosy top if it's going to let those chilly breezes sneak in ;o)

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    1. My opinion precisely! ;) Thanks Colette ;)

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  4. I'm not fussed about the Liberty prints either. I had a delightful older auntie whose entire wardrobe of blouses were Liberty florals. Whenever I see those iconic prints, I think of her and can't see anyone but her in them.
    My first ever liberty fabric was the Kindle in navy blue jersey. I was gobsmacked by the price and bought 80cm, thinking that was perfect for a tshirt. Just managed one. I love the pink Kindle sweatshirt fabric too, but not enough.
    Yours is awesomeness.

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    1. Thanks Winifred. I'm behind the times in my Kindle love, I think I'd adore it in navy! I'd psyched myself up for the $$ required (projected cost per wear had the most influence), and then the lovely sales assistant talked me into buying less than I'd planned and I still had enough for a bias neckline and the resulting scraps! I'm still not quite sure how that alchemy worked, but I'm rather happy it did ;)

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  5. I've bought a couple of Liberty lawns in the past. The feel of the lawn is fabulous, but am not in general attracted to the prints. I really like the print of this jersey though. Could you tell me what the composition is - cotton and something else? I might be tempted to fork out! Looks fab.

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    1. Thanks Paola. Everywhere I look online it's described as 100% cotton fleece. They also have a 'loopback' or french terry fleece in other designs that's definitely 100%cotton and not warm. I'll put a photograph of the fleecy side into my post - it's very lush, about 3mm of tightly packed fine fluffy threads.

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  6. I love that you are as mad as me! Those poses are gold, I tell you, gold LOL! I really need to show my personality more in my photo shoots. But back to you. I adore this and I love your styling of the bottom band. You do look lovely in pink, but it's not at all "Melbourne". Whats going on, girl??

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    1. hee hee ;) I knew we were mates for a mad reason ;) Just wait until my DressmakersDo outfit gets posted - not a smudge outside of black or grey... it's so very Melbourne. ..(well.... unless I decide to add a sprig of chartreuse at the 11th hour)
      You may be onto something though, I just bought the raspberry BFL wool to create a hat compliment this very top... Hmm, I might need a black neckpiece to tone those 'northerner' urges down ;0

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  7. By golly goodness I need that pink fabric in my life. That would be one hella cosy sweat for our cold winter! Love the print and the colour on you :)

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    1. Mel, this fabric needs you in its life! It's a lovely sweater, and with winter properly here, I've been wearing it a lot! Thank you ;)

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