Kimono fabric love

When I lived in Japan I collected a lot of amazing kimonos and kimono fabric pieces. They come in such stunning colours and are great for using in sewing projects, or just for looking at and enjoying. I now sell these fabric pieces as a selection of scrap fabric bags and each bag contains a selection of fabrics that are similar in colour.

This kimono scrap bag contains fabrics in a selection of reds, pinks, oranges and browns. There is a variety of sizes and weights of fabric, but they are all vintage kimono pieces.

This is one of the larger pieces of fabric in the collection and uses a pretty ikat-style design on a brown background.

I love this bold geometric design that is often seen in Japanese motifs. The bold red and white colour palette is very pleasing.

It's great to include softer colours too and this fabric is very fine, taken from the lining of a kimono. I love the soft pink watercolour-effect.

I love this bright orange colour and the 1930s style flowers randomly scattered on it. It has a very painterly feel and the colour makes it very bold and modern.

Stunning flower on a bright red background. This kimono fabric is cotton and includes a small geometric print around the flower.

Stunning chrysanthemum in a painterly feel. I love the antique cream ground colour.

This is such a sweet stork print, almost abstract in feel. It's a very small piece of silk but adorable! It would make a great piece in a small crafting project and I love the antique pink and cream colour palette. Some customers have used these fabrics to make doll's dresses.

Often the lining fabrics are more interesting than the outer kimono fabrics. This orange and cream fabric was taken from the lining of a kimono.

Pretty ombre flowers on a pink and yellow background. Although this fabric is obviously a vintage piece, it has touches of modernity with the bright green leaves and I love that injection of bright orangey red in the background.

 

Deco florals

I recently mentioned a collection I designed for Makower UK which was called Revival and was inspired by the styled florals of the Art Deco period. The collection comes in two colour palettes (one rich and one bright) and this is the richer colour palette which uses reds, rusts, mustard yellow and olive green.

The main design is a floral which incorporates decorative stylised flowers in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. The idea was to have full coverage and to use all the colours of the palette. This version comes on a deep brown background.

Co-ordinates are essential to this group and I wanted to vary the scale and coverage of each. I've included a mini, multi floral, a leaf scatter on a mustard yellow background and a stylised fan design in shades of pink.

This outline floral is highly detailed but the pared down colour palette keeps it subdued.

The main floral also comes on a slate blue background.

The mini floral as also been designed in shades of blue, orange and green. Its complimented by the leaf scatter on a green background and the stylised fan print in shades of mustard yellow and ochre.

Other coordinates include a tonal vine print, away stripe print and a fabulous multi colour tessellation print.