6th September 2023
Welcome to another blog where we discuss our latest William Morris fabric craft. We’re all of the mind of buying something you love and using it forever. We absolutely love reupholstering an armchair to give it new life, or fixing up an old chair with a layer of paint and some new fabric for the seat. Which is why, this summer, when we were digging our old windbreak from the depths of the garage, we decided to not throw away our ancient wind break, but to update it!
At aged 32, our windbreak had certainly seen better days. It had also seen many happy holidays, so we absolutely knew we couldn’t just throw it out and get a new one. Last year you might remember we made a lovely William Morris quilt for a picnic blanket using our cotton fabrics, and then lined a picnic basket to match. So on the same theme, we decided to re upholster in effect our old wind break. Using our licensed William Morris Strawberry Thief design, we got to work!
The old wind break, having seen many blustery trips to the beach, had holes in it and was fairly broken, but the poles still have plenty of life in them, so we simply cut away the old cover to be left with the poles. If you’re making a wind break from scratch, you can buy some poles from a hardware shop, just make sure they’re quite robust so you can hit them into the ground.
Deciding between the normal weight cotton fabric we print on or our heavyweight fabric was the next task. The heavyweight fabric would have been slightly heavier to carry, as we wanted to make our windbreak double sided so the pattern was on both sides so whichever side you sit on, you can enjoy the design. We ultimately chose cotton for this reason, but either will work brilliantly.
We used the same measurements as our old windbreak as it’s a size that’s always worked for us, but you can of course make this absolutely any size you’d like, depending on your group size and how far you’d like your windbreak to reach.
You’ll start by placing two of the pieces face to face, ensuring the pattern on both is the same way up. Then, stitch down one side so you have one continuous piece of fabric. Repeat on the next two pieces of fabric. Now, cut off all but about 1cm of the salve edge where you’ve sewn.
Press the seam open and then lay one piece of fabric with the pattern side up, and one piece of fabric with the pattern side down, and stitch up the side along the top and down the other side. Turn the fabric the right way around and top stitch along the top and sides of the two joined pieces of fabric.
Lay the fabric out, and along the bottom, turn both pieces of fabric in just 1cm and then again, to form a hem and then stitch that down. Smooth the fabric out flat and using the wooden pole as a guide, form a hem down each outer side and sew down. Ensure the poles are held tightly by the hem so they can’t slip out whilst you carry it – which would be very annoying!
Next, measure in from each of the sides a hem to put the other two poles so the poles are equally spaced along the length of the wind break. These inner hems are made by forming a fold in the fabric and stitching down. We used a metre of matching bias binding cut into two lengths to tie the wind break together so it’s easier to carry.
Posted in William Morris by Laura
Always one of our favourites, our Willow Bough blue tablecloth brings the beauty of William Morris into the home, remember our whole website is 15% off this week! Use code: springblooms 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #fabrics #willowbough #inspiredbynature #floraltable #tablecloth
Making everything in life its own little event, even a coffee and a cake 🫶🏻 Featuring our Strawberry Thief red William Morris design napkin and placemat 🍓
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #lifesmoments #atthekitchentable #smallmomentsofcalm
The easiest napkin fold is so effective 🫶🏻 Next to a dinner plate or placed on the plate with a cake fork, it’s perfect for easy yet chic presentation 🍴
•
•
•
#napkinfold #napkinfolding #tablescape #atthekitchentable #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign
Our William Morris Lily design is back in stock! 🤍 A gorgeous design especially this spring/ summer it’s a timeless design we adore year after year 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #smallbusiness #supportsmall
Is it just us or does anyone else come across an old photo and get upset that the cake is now gone? 🍰
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #strawberrythief #fabrics #teatowel #preraphaelite #emmabridgewater
Lay the table with us for Easter dinner 🐰 These rabbit napkin folds are so simple yet effective, will you give them a go this weekend? 🐣
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #floraltable #napkinfold #napkinfolding #napkinfoldingideas #brotherrabbit #easternapkin
Us 🤝 simple napkin folding 🎀
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #williammorrisfabricdesign #design #afternoontea #daisy #preraphaelite
A really simple napkin fold for your Easter table! 🐣 We used a napkin ring but you could use ribbon or twine, whatever you’ve got! 🐰
Just fold the napkin into a triangle and roll up from the point until you can fold it in half to make the ears 🐇 You could put a little creme egg in there as an extra treat 🤎
•
•
•
#napkinart #napkinfolding #napkinfolding #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #eastertable #eastertablescape #fabrics #easter2025🐰🐥☀️🍹
Hopping into Easter week with a fab 10% off our website, just use code: EASTER on our website 🐣
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #morris #willowbough #floraldesign #florals #easternapkin #eastertable #eastertablescape
Have you seen our new remnants and bundle section on our website? 🪡 Perfect for quilting, sewing and crafting, they’re all in varying sizes and we’ll keep it constantly updated 🧵
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #crafting #fabriccrafts #quilter #quiltersgonnaquilt #quiltlife #sewsewsew #sewersgonnasew #fabricremnants
Layering florals on florals this Spring 🪻🌷
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #morris #fabric #fabricaddict #pimpernel #floraldesigns #spring #springtable
The start of the Easter tablescapes this weekend 🐣 We cant resist a little rabbit napkin, so easy and so effective we can post a reel on how to do the napkin fold! 🐰 This is our pvc fabric in William Morris Brother Rabbit red which is perfect for on the table as it simply wipes clean so isn’t an issue for any spills 🧼
We know that seasonal tablescapes whilst looking amazing can often seem really expensive on Instagram so we wanted to prove that with a simple napkin fold and a few little inexpensive decor bits it can be wonderfully seasonal yet affordable and used every year - the carrots are from @poundland and the cute little sheep are from @sainsburys 🐑
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #floraldesign #pvcfabric #pvctablecloth #eastertable #eastertablescape #eastertablesetting #easter2015
A gorgeous spring day today spent in the garden, anyone else unable to spend a day without a pot of mini eggs nearby? 🐣 Our pvc fabric is perfect for garden tables, a simple wipe clean and it’s ready for outdoor meals - just make sure to not leave it outside in the rain! ☔️☀️ On the table today is our William Morris Compton pvc, a year- round fave of ours 🤎
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #compton #springgarden #springgardening #springtime #springsunshine☀️ #labrador #englishlab #lablife #magnolia #magnoliatree #magnoliatreesinbloom🌸🌸🌸
Spring has truly sprung this week and we’re looking forward to Easter 🐣 Our William Morris Daisy was looking gorgeous on the table with a little Easter treat 🐰
•
•
•
#napkinart #easteregg #easterdecor #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #floralfabric #printedintheuk #preraphaelite #artandcraftsmovement
One of the crafters among us couldn’t help but steal some of our new designs from work to create a gorgeous quilted bag from all our original designs to take to Chicago with them on holiday 🤍 For all of us back home in Yorkshire we’re a little jealous seeing all the holiday snaps of the bag round the city! ✨ All these designs are now available on our website 🥰
•
•
•
#quilted #quiltedbag #quiltedbags #quiltersgonnaquilt #quiltlife #sewersofinstagram #sewallthethings #whatimade #whatimadetoday #chicago #blossomtree #smallbusiness #ukbusiness #patchwork #patchworkbag
It’s back in stock!! 🍓 Our cotton Strawberry Thief blue licensed William Morris design is now back in stock - and digitally printed 🌿 We hope you can tell how crisp the design is from this video, the details within the design are so clear in the digital print which is fabulous becuase there’s so many beautiful details within all Morris designs 🎨
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #floraldesign #fabrics #strawberythief #quiltingfabric #quiltingdesigns #backinstock
The colours of Compton 😍 did you know some of our designs are now digitally printed? 🤎 digital print gives top quality printing design with a really crisp finish that brings to life the whole design and its details, of course, we’re still printing in the UK 🇬🇧
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #smallbusiness #floralfabric #quiltingfabric #florals #curtainfabric #upholsteryfabric #ukcrafters
Pack an order with us of our new quilting fabrics 🌿 These are all our exclusive designs that are now available on our website, and each beautiful design has been faithfully resorted from our French archive, we wonder what they’ll be made into 🤍
•
•
•
#quilting #quiltingfabric #fatquarterbundle #fatquarters #sewistofinstagram #sewingmakesmehappy #patchwork #patchworkquilt #smallbusiness #packanorderwithme #packanorderwithme
A tea towel hanging in the kitchen, bringing floral magic easily into the home 🌿 Can you believe William Morris designed Willow Bough in 1887? It’s such a timeless design we love imagining how many people throughout the years have chosen to have it decorating their homes 🤍
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #morrisdesignsuk #timelessdesign #fabric #fabricstash #teatowel #teatoweldesign
Use code: birthday for 20% off our entire website 🌿 Includes our fabulous fabric by the half metre, tablewear & kitchenware 🤍
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisstrawberrythief #morrisfabric #smallbusiness #quiltingfabric #sewingfabric #curtainfabric #fabric #fabricstash #fabriclove #floralfabric