Over the summer I have had some incredible emails from customers and friends, with wonderful stories of how they have been keeping busy during lockdown. Inspired by these letters and in particular a story sent by Hilary below, it reminded me that whatever the situation we find ourselves in, there is always creativity to be found. The story below is literally a family thread of life through fabric, patched together as a beautiful heirloom.
In a more humble way, I managed to put together a handful of patchwork dresses using leftover Liberty fabrics. In our easy to wear, classic, Primrose Hill style this one of a kind dress is perfect for summer days both at home or away.
Sadly we were only able to make four of these beautiful dresses in a size small size 8-12 (so sorry not to do more but if this proves popular we will look at making more) ...if you are interested in buying one please send us an email at support@justinetabak.co.uk as this dress is not shown via the website.
I'm releasing the same dress via instagram but as always, subscribers have first dibs.
Ella in the beautiful Primrose Hill patchwork dress
Hilary's Patchwork Story
In her own words, read on to hear about Hilary's passion for patchwork and the memories that are held within....
"The story of the family patchwork quilt goes way back - I started the first quilt when I was a student at the London College of Fashion in the late Seventies, on finding an amazing source of 'slight seconds' Liberty prints bought in a shop at Walthamstow market. My mother did most of the sewing but we all did stints on the quilt over the years – my sister took the quilt back to Denmark to finish all the backing and quilt stitching and my daughter is now the proud owner of it. It took decades to complete but it’s such an archive of family memories …
Decades of memories in a quilt!
"More recently, I started my 'shirting patchwork' - using scraps cut from my sons' shirts and boxers and having amassed lots of my favourite cotton chartings and chambrays ...such a great thing about patchwork is the memory bank that each quilt holds. Even as grown men they can now identify certain stripes and checks !"
I have been sewing a minimum of 5 hexagons a day - quite often watching the live coronavirus press conference. And it's no surprise that the quilt is suddenly growing !! My mother taught me about this type of hand sewn patchwork - there are approx 120 stitches around each hexagon and she was still sewing in her eighties. Each hexagon is linked small stitches using traditional Sylko mercerised cotton thread..."
Something tells me the inspiration continues as Hilary designs for her new homewares venture! You can really see the geometric patterns taken from the shirting quilt to one of her new cushion prints! Check her out @crop_norfolk
My sincerest THANK YOU to Hilary who inspired this newsletter!
And my inspiration is clear...this is a photo taken from my late Dad's wardrobe... a patchwork in a rail!
If patchwork isn't quite for you, we have plenty of other patchwork inspired dresses in stock. Mix and match with belts, bags and shoes to create your own patchwork effect!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Justine x
We have just a few in these dresses left here...
