Spring Sunshine Fabrics for all your Craft and Sewing Projects

Perhaps February is a little bit early in the year to introduce my 'Spring Sunshine' collection of coordinating fabrics? 

But after months of winter gloom, with one storm after another, I hope it might spread some much-needed 'sunshine' on grey and dreary days! And today is a lovely sunny day, at least here in Wales, with daffodils in the gardens and parks!

'Spring Sunshine'? - where did that name come from? 
I never decide on a name for a collection until well after I begin designing - and then, as often as not, the name just drops into my mind and refuses to budge. With this 'Spring Sunshine' collection, it was not only the watercolour daffodil paintings that I used as the main motif but the coming together of the yellow flowers, the fresh greens of the leaves and the sky blue background that seemed to speak of sunny days in early springtime.

(Without the brighter, more 'golden' yellow, the colour palette could have been rather bland.)

The main pattern in the collection is a floral 'mini-print' pattern of Daffodils on two background colours - sky blue and teal.

Custom Spring Daffodils on Sky Blue Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

Custom Spring Daffodils on Teal Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

There are also customizable versions of the 'daffodils' patterned fabric available from my Posh & Painterly Zazzle store that invite the customer to easily choose their own background colour -

Pretty Yellow Daffodils Fabric to Customize by poshandpainterly

Then there is the pattern that combines the main 'daffodils' pattern with a stripe -

Custom Daffodils Stripes on Sky Blue Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

These fabrics could all sit very comfortably in a pretty, nostalgic setting - even adding a 'country cottage' look perhaps? 

I think they would be perfect for the soft furnishings in a little girl's bedroom too!

They would, of course, combine perfectly with any of the other fabrics in the 'Spring Sunshine' collection. But for a charmingly 'retro' effect, you could mix and match them with either or both of these Polka Dots patterns, secure in the knowledge that the colours will harmonise with the floral patterns -

Spring Sunshine Green and White Polka Dots Fabric by poshandpainterly

Spring Sunshine White on Green Polka Dots Fabric by poshandpainterly

These 'pin-striped' patterns continue the light, bright, sunshiny theme of springtime and as well as combining well with the Floral and Polka Dot patterns, they could be used alone in a more 'modern' decorating scheme -

Custom Spring Green Stripes on Sky Blue Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

Custom Spring Green Stripes on White Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

Custom Spring Stripes on Teal Pattern Fabric by poshandpainterly

The final patterns in this 'Spring Sunshine' collection, the chic chevrons, are altogether more 'modern' and trendy when used by themselves.

Spring Sunshine Chevron Pattern Teal Green Yellow Fabric by poshandpainterly

Spring Sunshine Chevron Pattern Blue Green Yellow Fabric by poshandpainterly

But even so, they combines well with the other patterns in the collection, as you can see in my 'Faux Patchwork' pattern -

Spring Sunshine Faux Patchwork Patterns Fabric by poshandpainterly

I first started making patchworks more than forty years ago and at about that time - in the early 1970s, when boho/hippie-style was all the rage - I had a favourite dress made of a faux patchwork patterned fabric, in red, white and navy blue. 

It was a tent-shaped mini-dress and I was able to carry on wearing it as a maternity dress when my second daughter was on the way. I loved that dress so much that, even after hemlines dropped and it was no longer in fashion, I could put it on over my other clothes to wear as a painting overall! I think it may still be stowed away in a black sack in my garage . . .

So it's hardly surprising that, when shopping online for some new bedlinen more recently, I was immediately attracted to a faux patchwork duvet set! 

And that started me thinking about the possibility of making faux-patchwork patterns on my computer . . . 

Daffodils Pillow or Cushion: Faux-patchwork by poshandpainterly

I do this now with almost all of my pattern collections. 

And in my photo-editing program, it's very easy to make sure that the colours and 'lights and darks' are evenly distributed for the gentle, almost 'shabby chic' look that I love!

You could use this lay-out of the fabric pieces as a pattern for your own patchwork project. Or, if time is at a premium, you could even just quilt along the lines between the fabric shapes!

Here are all my 'Spring Sunshine' fabrics, together in one place, in my Posh and Painterly store on Zazzle -

Click on the image below to see the full Spring Sunshine collection.

Spring Sunshine Fabrics
by Posh & Painterly

If you like my 'Spring Sunshine' collection, you may also like to visit my Posh & Painterly store to see my Home and Fashion Accessories featuring these patterns, as well as some very pretty matching border patterns.

Spring Daffodils Border and Polka Dots Pillow by poshandpainterly

By the way, 

my 'Spring Sunshine' collection of fabrics is now also available for sale,

 along with many of my collections, 

on the 

WOVEN MONKEY 

website

The days are finally starting to lengthen and spring is not too far off. The birds are singing, reminding me that there's work to do out in the garden . . .

So I'll wish you 'Happy Sewing' - 
and see you next time!

A Winter Colour Palette

We haven't had any snow yet, here in Abergavenny.

But we've had some very cold days, brightened by lovely blue skies and a heavy dusting of frost that sparkled in the winter sunshine.

Unfortunately, I haven't been too well over Christmas so I haven't been out and about with my camera. But here's a wintry scene for a cool and sophisticated colour palette -

It's a photo I took of the lake in Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, on an ice-cold December afternoon, before the days of the digital camera! And in spite of the freezing temperature, the hint of pink in the reflections of the setting sun, as well as the sun-shiny blue of the sky, give the touch of warmth needed to use this as a colour scheme for all sorts of design projects, even for home decor.

Here are some patterns I've created using this scheme - 

Dunorlan Park Quirky Polkas

Dunorlan Park Chevrons

Dunorlan Park Stripes

I think they have a distinctly Mid-Century feel and they are high-resolution .png files (20" x 20", 300 dpi). 

So please feel free to download them if you have a use for them - enjoy!

Is Small Town Fashion behind the times?

When you get to my time of life, you tend to wear clothes that suit you and hope that perhaps some up-to-the-minute accessories will prevent you looking utterly dowdy!

This is the sort of 'country style' I would expect from a small town in Wales with just a nod towards recent fashion with the Tangerine scarf and the Black and White dress. Not one of these colours is from the Pantone Spring/Summer 2013 forecast though.

I have absolutely no intention of dressing in Neon Yellow - or any other Neon colour, for that matter! And I'll gladly leave platform-soled shoes behind in the Seventies. 

Still plenty of stripes, polka dots and checks are everywhere. But the only sign of the chevrons that I've noticed abounding on shopping websites, was on some Kleenex boxes!

So noticing the latest trends in our local shops hadn't been a priority for quite some time. 

I found a lot of this very bright blue for both womens and menswear. (It was such a sunny day when I took these photos that reflections in the shop windows were a problem and made some of the blues look less bright than they really were.)

Once again the British Heart Foundation charity shop (check shirt, blue skirt and 'Poppies' floral dress) had clearly made more effort with their window-dressing than any of the other charity shops!

But then came the Surface Pattern course I took last winter. And it set me exercises that sent me off to the shops with my camera for precisely that purpose. 

Bright Pink with Turquoise seems to remain popular in spite of not being what Pantone forecasted!

And when I put on my 'designer's hat', it's useful for me know what people are looking for. 

Black and white was by far the most obvious 'trend' and I thought it was quite a novel idea to apply it to a nautical  pattern (the anchors) instead of the usual navy blue.

Abergavenny is a very small town. But it has plenty of upmarket, locally owned boutiques as well as small branches of some of the national chains. Quite a good cross-section of the clothing market, I think.

These I love! In fact I have a genuine 1930s aubergine-coloured lace dress in this style tucked away somewhere in my loft. I always intended to get  it repaired so that I could wear it but it's one of those things I never got around to.

The question is: Do I look to the online trend reports with their super-skinny models and fantastical clothes that often look as they've come straight from the costume hamper of a pantomime? Or do I look to the shops to see what people are actually buying? 

And, most importantly, is there a difference?

What do you think?

Spring 2013 - What's Trending Where You Live?

One thing I learnt as a result of the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course is to keep my eyes open and my camera at the ready, even when I go shopping!

I live in Abergavenny, a small market town in South-east Wales, not far from the border with England. Abergavenny is known for its 'Markets, Mountains and More . . .' and if I walk into town on a Wednesday morning, I hear the sounds of sheep and cattle from the livestock market on my way. And from the park I cross on my way to the shops, I can see Sugarloaf, Skirrid and the Blorenge, the three mountains surrounding the town.

Not exactly the kind of place you would expect to find high fashion in the shops. But in fact, Abergavenny has far more shops than you might expect in a town of fewer than 15,000 inhabitants. And there's a good variety, ranging from quite a classy little department store and independent boutiques to small branches of most of the national chains.

I've been too busy to venture outside of Abergavenny for a while so I don't know how its shops compare with other places, but my impression is that most of the shopkeepers have at least some awareness of what is currently trending.

So here are some Trend Boards I've made from photos I took in town this week and you can decide whether or not Abergavenny's style is up-to-the-minute or lagging sadly behind!

My first impression was that there was 'Nautical' or 'Coastal' everywhere. There is certainly a lot of denim, canvas shoes, boater shoes, more denim, blue and white, even more denim - and 'deckchair' and 'matelot' stripes. But I also found some butterflies - on mens' clothing, unfortunately too small to show up here.

There are also a lot of 'Conversational Prints', which anyone who read Part One of Repeating Patterns for Painters, will know are patterns with everyday objects as motifs. Today I saw sailing boats, bicycles and paper aeroplanes on men's clothing! And I was pleased to find mini-prints that could have been Laura Ashley's in the Sixties and Seventies.

There is almost as much 'Tribal' - mostly in black and white and again, lots of stripes.

These were the shop windows that initially caught my eye. Not all of the green is Pantone's Tender Shoots Green and I think the yellow may be more influenced by Wales' national symbol, the daffodil, than by Pantone's Lemon Zest. But it all looks lovely and spring-like. There are bright green trousers for men and even the charity shop's window sported various shades of green, teamed with check shirts.

I finally spotted some Tangerine Tango in Abergavenny - better late than never! It was almost always teamed  with bright pink, one of my own favourite colour combinations.

Reds ranged from Pantone's Poppy Red in the department store window, through rusts and Burgundy to Aubergine. And there are still plenty of large florals, polka dots and lace.

Turquoise abounds in Abergavenny, often in combination with pink and white - checks, polkas, florals, and some with a definitely 'oriental' feel about them! If the green and yellow feel springlike and the orange and pink combination reminds us of roasting high temperature, this turquoise, pink and blue palette is somewhere in between.

In fact, I've got my eye on that check shirt - it's just the sort of thing that I'd be likely to wear a lot when the weather gets warmer. But after last year's wash-out of a summer, I feel it would be tempting fate to buy something so summery while it's still snowing outside!

So what's your verdict?

Are Abergavenny shops keeping up-to-date?

And what's on offer where you shop?

.

Wall Clocks with Polka Dots and Checks . . .

. . . on 

Mugs, Mousepads & More 

Wall Clock, Hearts, Flowers, Checks and Polka Dots by helikettle
 

.