Stephanie Socha Design

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S4 E84: What is the Deal with Liberty Fabrics? History and uses for Tana Lawn and Lasenby Cotton

Stephanie Socha
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Gardening

I planted seeds to start indoors last weekend for the first time in a very long time…I vaguely remember trying seed planting and did not have much success. I hope this time round will have better results. I have the heating mat, led grow lights and proper seedling soil. Below are pics of the seeds I planted in their cozy incubator home prepped for germination, and on day 3, I have tiny little sprouts!! Yay!

Sewing

Below are the patterns I talk about for the outfit I want to make to wear to my brother’s wedding in October. What do you think? I will either make the Simplicity dress A and the Fuller Cardigan, OR the Wattle Curve Skirt, Simplicity tunic D and Fuller Cardigan.

I plan to make a wearable “muslin” of the dress to see if it looks good and fits well. I have some pretty Kaufman Cotton Lawn fabric that will make it a nice summer dress.

I am not sold on the tunic D for the wattle skirt. I think I need to make this skirt in a different fabric, and then I can try different shirt styles with it.

I am pretty excited about this episode on Liberty Fabrics. I always share my love for Liberty fabrics on the podcast, and until now, I had not done an episode on the history of Tana Lawn and Lasenby Cotton. The story of LIberty begins in 1855, and continues on today as an international leader of printed fabrics.

The expensive price of the Tana Lawn fabric makes one pause and ask why so pricey and what makes it so special. I answer those questions in today’s episode. In my research, I seemed to have written what appears to be a dissertation or term paper on the topic, which I have copied for you below:

Liberty Fabrics:

  • By now, if you have been sewing for any length of time, you may have heard about Liberty Tana lawn fabrics.  What is deal with Liberty Fabrics??  Let’s find out…

  • It all began with Arthur Lasenby Liberty who founded Liberty in 1885. Arthur was the son of a Draper, and had an appreciation for skilled craftsmanship. He told his artist friends that if he had his own shop, he would change the look of fashion in dress and decoration.  That is exactly what he did. He opened the Liberty Shop on Regent Street in London in 1885.  The shop is still there and continues to thrive.  In the LIberty shop’s early years, it was filled with objects imported from the Far East, rugs from India, silk from china, Japanese papers for the walls etc.  In the 1880s, LIberty commissioned designs from several leading artists of the day.  These designs gained renowned influence and popularized the  art nouveau style.  Liberty began calling their fabrics “LIberty Art Fabrics”  to distinguish them superior to run of the mill commercial manufactured fabrics.   This was during the Art Nouveau hay day and many liberty art fabrics were printed with art nouveau designs by commissioned artists.  In Italy they called this fabric “Stile LIberty”  (art nouveau style)

  • The first fabrics were mostly silks. Then expanded to linen and cotton. Carpets and wallpapers etc.

  • Tana Lawn fabrics: 1910s . Names after Lake Tana in East Africa. It is the place where a special type of cotton plant with a very long fiber that produced very fine fabric, Tana Lawn.  This fabric became Liberty’s best selling fabric.  

    • What is cotton lawn fabric?    It is a type of cotton fabric with a high thread count, which provides it with a silky texture. 

    • Due to the way it is woven, lawn cloth is usually semi-transparent, which provides this fabric with a sheer appearance. Lawn cloth is relatively lightweight, making it a popular fabric for spring and summer garments - and now also quilts.

    • This type of fabric was first produced in France, in the city of Laon. (Pronounced lawn) and was made from linen until cotton was imported from India.

  • Liberty introduced “Lasenby Cotton” fabric in 2017, named after the founder (Arthur Lasenby LIberty).  This fabric is designed for quilters.  It is a little heavier than Tana Lawn, making it perfect for patchwork quilting, and home dec like pillows.

  • Who designs Liberty fabrics today?   Firstly, Liberty  has an archive of approximately 50,000 prints from the 1800s through today.  Designers were contracted to design patterns for Liberty fabric until 1952.  In 1952, Liberty brought the fabric design in-house and opened the Liberty Design Studio in Soho, London.  Today there are 15 artists that work on designs 18 months in advance, and they are top top secret.  The artists have different areas of specialty in hand drawing and painting. Watercolor, oil, pen and ink designs.  Each print is named with a story behind it.  It could be a location visited, or after artists or royalty. 

  • Digital printing is able to show the artwork of the artist from the original to the fabric.  

  • Where is liberty fabric made?  Up until a few years ago, it was made in the UK.  In fact not far from where Kate from the Last Homely House YouTube channel lives.  It is now produced in Italy near Lake Cuomo.

  • Types of Liberty fabrics:

    • Tana Lawn

    • Lasenby Quilt Cotton

    • Apparel:  silk, linen, knit and Tana lawn cotton

    • Home Dec: velvet, Linen

  • Tana Lawn:  lightweight silky beautiful prints and colors

    • Clothing with beautiful drape.  Dresses, blouses, shirts, skirts etc.

    • Quilting:  Ideal for EPP piecing and quilting because of the lightweight and thin nature of the fabric.  It folds beautifully around the templates, and stitches well.  The small print patterns also work well with both epp and quilting.

      • Patchwork:  sewing with Tana lawn is an adjustment from regular quilting fabrics.  It is very thin and silky, which means it can get ripply and puckered easily.  It is ideal to piece Tana lawn with only Tana lawn.  Many quilt afficionados will say to use the same fiber of fabric and the same weight of fabric in quilt piecing.  In a perfect world, maybe, but in my world, I mix fabric weights (to a degree) ie Tana with art gallery Pure solids.  Mix with other lawns ie Kaufman.  Mix with other quilting fabrics ie kaffe fassett, Tula pink, Anna Maria Horner, Katrina Rocella etc.

      • Quilt Binding

      • Quilt Backings:  At 55” useable fabric width, you may only need a single width of this for quilt backing.  

      • Home Dec:  Shower curtains, drapery, pillows, throws and bedding.

      • Appliqué designs for quilts, apparel and bags.

  • Lasenby Cotton:  Quilt weight, 44" wide, 100% cotton

    • Liberty prints and quilting collections with authorized distributer, Riley Blake Designs. https://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/liberty-fabrics

    • Flower Show Midnight Garden: released 2/22

      • The Flower Show quilting collections from Liberty Fabrics celebrate the ‘Best in Show’, bringing together botanical designs from across Liberty’s iconic print archive. Drawing inspiration from the glory and tradition of classic British flower shows, the collection features diverse flower forms united in a cacophony of colour, illustrating Liberty’s rich heritage of floral design. Flower Show Midnight Garden transports us to a magical moonlit garden strung with lanterns, where jewel plum purples and cool blues reflect the dappling of light among the trees. The result is a rich and enigmatic palette, guaranteed to bring any crafting project into full bloom. The collection is traditionally screen printed onto Lasenby cotton, a base specifically developed for quilting and craft projects. View the collection here.

    • Riviera Collection: Releases end of June

      • Hand painted by the Liberty studio in 1991 yet echoing the memorable style of graphic-inspired 1950s patterns, Sealife exudes effortless nautical charm. The eclectic pastiche of silhouette flowers, boats, fish, shells, and butterflies almost resembles linocut prints, while transporting us to a magical summer seascape.

      • Adventure Coast -Statement print - like a toile, coastal village on the waterfront

      • Stripe

      • colorful beach huts - as seen in Dorset and Norfolk beaches.

      • sailboats etc.

      • Projects:  sunroom, porch or outdoor cushions, quilt, table linens etc., shower curtain, tote bags.  View the collection here.

    • In Conclusion, Liberty Fabrics has a 140 year history and is Internationally recognised as a leader in print design and textile innovation, the in-house design team continues to create new and original prints each season.

      • The Liberty fabrics business is the biggest contributor to the Liberty Group and it has been growing +37% in store and online. 

      • "The evolution comes through the way we innovate those traditional methods with state-of-the-art technology that allow us to meet the demands of our international customer base,"  said Mary-Ann Dunkley, design director Liberty Fabrics.

      • Liberty Fabrics is constantly evolving with technologies in printing, and with collaborations with emerging talent like Richard Quinn and with brands like Christian Louboutin, Paul Smith and Nike. Working with brands in this way continuously opens my eyes to the endless ways of reinventing the Liberty print whilst also highlighting it’s timelessness as a style genre."

    • My final thoughts on Liberty Fabrics:

      • My first experience with Liberty Fabrics was with their Luxury Home Dec line with Scalamandre.  I did a beautiful roman shade in a paisley cotton print.  The cotton was like a twill weight, much heavier than quilt weight fabric.   I also worked with William Morris textiles - the Strawberry Thief a favorite pattern of mine.  It wasn't until 2015 that I learned about Liberty Tana Lawn, and quilters using it in their quilts...mind blown.  I have mentioned it many times, but my favorite online Liberty tana lawn shop is Duckadilly A liberty tana lawn only fabric studio in Ann Arbor, MI.  I have also ordered directly from the Liberty of London website.  They have some exclusive patterns and colorways to their shop.  Then to my delight, in 2017, I discovered the Lasenby cotton Liberty quilting fabric.  The price point much easier on the pocketbook, and same as other quilt shop quality fabrics.  

      • I just received a fat quarter bundle from their latest Flower Show, Midnight Garden.  This colorway of the collection has all my favorite colors - blues, purples, pinks and some multi prints of the collections color palette on an ivory background.

      • If you thought Liberty fabrics were too traditional, stuffy and old fashioned...take another look and try both the tana lawn and the lasenby cotton.  For me, Liberty fabrics are special and will always be cherished.  I also love to use them as often as I can, not keeping them too precious not to use.  Seeing Liberty fabrics brings me joy in both sewing with them and enjoying the completed projects I have made from them. 

      • My reseach sources are from:

      • I wish you happy sewing  clothing, bags, quilts, pillows and more with your Liberty fabrics!

      • Thank you for listening to my podcast!  Don't forget to leave me a voice mail with your question or comment - its a lot of fun to receive these from you.