FAQs

Your Cart

Close
Paper Plane Your order qualifies for free standard delivery
Subtotal £0.00
Delivery £0.00
Order Total £0
Checkout Securely

From a story William Morris read to his daughters to an iconic design; Brother Rabbit

22nd May 2017

Welcome to our new blog series which revolves around all our current designs before we launch our new one! Below is a sneak peak of the new design as well as an insight into how colours are chosen for a new design of ours. Throughout the process, we work closely with the printers and receive many strike offs to make sure it’s perfect. Our new design is excitingly close to being perfected so stay tuned!

Our Brother Rabbit design was first produced in May 1882. It was one of nineteen designs registered at the Patent Office between 1881-1882 by Morris- seventeen of these were designed for the indigo- discharge method of printing. This method stands in stark contrast to the printing we see today on machines; this took three days to complete. The cloth was submerged in an indigo vat in order to dye it all over to a uniform blue colour. Then it was bleached with a bleaching reagent to reduce the colour to the desired shade of blue for the base colour. Mordants are then applied to the bleached parts and then the cloth immersed in a madder vat to give it the proper tint. The excess colour was then cleaned off and to ensure the colours on the fabric won’t run once produced, they were set at boiling point by passing the fabric through soap. Laid outside with the printed side face up, the white of the design was purified to finish the job- a laborious job to create a work of art; worth it though to see the beautiful and intricate designs Morris produced.

The Uncle Remus Stories were written by J.C. Harris and Morris read them to his children Jenny and May at their home Kelmscott Manor. The birds in the design were drawn by Morris’ close friend Philip Webb.

Nowadays, our products are both printed and manufactured in the UK, are licensed designs by William Morris, and are printed both size and colour-wise to our own specifications to best suit our products.

Below are a few of our Brother Rabbit design items- our tote bags fitted in perfectly in Venice, but our full range is viewable here- it would look great on your table and throughout your kitchen in accessories this summer time!

Related Articles

Post Title

A William Morris Christmas Gift Guide

In preparation for the festive season, we wanted to put together a William Morris gift guide for you. It's also a great time to mention...

Post Title

Laura’s Beau on Etsy!

We are very excited to now have a shop open on Etsy! We sell all our fabric and bias binding on the site and are...

Post Title

York Minster

York Minster is always a delight to behold.  It is built in the medieval “northern gothic” style which so influenced William Morris.

The table is all set for a festive weekend dinner party 🎄 We used our William Morris Mallow design, doesn’t it look so perfect this time of year ✨ Featuring our latest floral arrangement 🌿✨
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #mallow #floraltable #floraltablescape #flowerarrangement
If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift that will be used year-round, our kitchen sets of tea towels, aprons and ovengloves are sure to be a winner! 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisfabricdesigns #interiordesign #ovenglove #ovengloves #christmasgifts #stockingideas #morris #strawberrythief
Have you had any festive table set ups yet? 🎄 This was our table last year for Christmas Day and our Strawberry Thief in Red has seen a lot of use throughout the year too at many a celebration 🌿 Isn’t it amazing how many events happen around the dining table- we may as well make it as pretty as possible! 🤍
•
•
•
#williammorris #morris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #strawberrythief #redstrawberrythief #christmastable #festivetablescape #tablescape #tablestyling #floraltable #florals
A pink and white Christmas theme on the table today with Charlotte Rose 🌹 It matches perfectly with our Nutcracker theme flower arrangement 🤍🩰
•
•
•
#christmastable #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #tablescape #frenchflorals #laurasbeau #floraldesign #floraltable #floraltablecloth
Did you know we offer a gift wrap service? 🎁 If you’ve got a loved one you’d like to send a floral gift to this year, you can send it straight to their door all wrapped with a note written by the Laura’s Beau elves 🎄🤶🏻 It’s an option on our website only and you can check the gift wrap box at checkout to write your gift tag that we will hand write for you (we also won’t include a reciept or anything of course, but will email it to you instead ✨) Are you giving any William Morris floral goodies to your friends and family this year? 🤍
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #morrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #strawberrythief #christmasgiftguide #christmasgifts #floralgift #myfloralhome #myfloraltable #floraltablescape #christmastablesetting
Anyone else started on the mince pies this weekend? 🥧 We’ve been feeling rather festive the last week or so, are you all in the festive spirit yet or waiting until December? 🎄 
📸 features our William Morris Brother Rabbit blue design 🤍
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #morrisdesign #brotherrabbit #floraldesign #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #floraltablescape
To brighten up the kitchen with florals, we love hanging our William Morris tea towels on hooks, over the oven door or kitchen sink 🌿 An easy way to add a pop of colour or design ✨ They’re a great Christmas gift this year and come in a whole range of Morris designs to suit everyone’s kitchens 🎁 
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #floraldesigns #teatowel #christmasgiftideas #christmasgiftguide #floralgiftideas #willowbough #willowboughgreen
Use Code: BF15 for 15% at checkout until Monday 27th at midnight 🌛 Happy Shopping ✨ (valid on our website only; www.laurasbeau.co.uk 🌿
•
•
•
#laurasbeau #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabrics #morris #preraphaelite #floralinteriors #preraphaelite #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric #blackfriday2023
🎄 A Christmas table set up using our Red Strawberry Thief licensed William Morris design ✨ We love how perfect it is dressed up for Christmas but can be used all year round accessorised for all the seasons 🌿
•
•
•
#christmas #christmastable #christmastablecloth #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #preraphaelite
Our virtual craft market is now live! ✨ Only on our Etsy page, you can now shop a limited range different sizes of our licensed William Morris fabrics as offcuts and also, some craft bundles🧵And there is also a pretty fabulous Black Friday deal on everything on our Etsy at the moment! 🌿We're always working to be more sustainable (you can read more about what we do on our blog) and offcuts is a great way for us to reduce waste - some are larger pieces that are various widths and lengths and some are bundles of fabric offcuts. ✨ Accurate measurements are in the listing, and you'll find the full market under a tab on our Etsy. The bundles are brilliant gifts for crafters, quilters and those who you know would like to try a whole range of William Morris fabrics 🎁
We'll keep this tab updated as and when we have fabric ready so keep checking back! Remember, we do sell all our fabric by the half metre if you find a new fave in a bundle 🤍
-
-
-
#etsy #fabriccrafts #sewers #quilters #fabricbundle #craftmarket #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #fabrics #floralfabric #fabricstack #fabricstash
Used for a very special engagement tablescape this past weekend was our timelessly beautiful Charlotte Rose! 🥂💍✨ It’s actually a design from our French archive, we absolutely love it ☺️ If you’re starting your Christmas shopping it’s a wonderful gift idea for them to love using all year round on their table 🥂
•
•
•
#tablescape #tabledecor #engagement #frenchfloral #frenchflorals #floraltable #florals #floraldesign
A wonderful addition to the table, our placemats, available in a range of licensed William Morris designs, set the scene for a whole range of celebrations sat around the table 🥂
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #williammorrisfabric #willowbough #tablescape #myfloraltable #floraltable #preraphaelite #williammorrisdesigns
These green tones together are so lovely 🌿 Can you name all of these licensed William Morris designs? Which is your favourite? ✨ If you’d like a sample of any just let us know ☺️
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #preraphaelite #preraphaelites #fabricstash #fabricstack #ukfabric #ukfabricshop #floralfabrics
Functional + stylish, a tea towel thrown over the cooker or sink really does brighten up the kitchen - bringing some florals inside the home! ✨ This is our licensed William Morris Sweet Briar design, we absolutely love this delicate design with soft pink flowers 🌷
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #sweetbriar #teatowelsofinstagram #teatowel #floralfabric #floralfabrics #florals #myfloralhome #preraphaelite #morris #morrisfabric #onlinefabric #fabricdestashuk
A fabric stack full of William Morris licensed designs, which is your favourite? ✨
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #fabricdestashuk #fabricshop #fabricseller #fabricstack #strawberrythief
Sitting at the table to admire our latest floral arrangement creation with a cuppa! ☕️ Don’t these colours look absolutely wonderful with our beautiful licensed William Morris design Compton 🧡
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabrics #fabricdestashuk #floralfabric #floralfabrics #compton #preraphaelite #tablescape #flowerarrangement #floraltable #flowerarranging #myfloraldays
Back in stock- wonderful Golden Lily pvc fabric 🤩 Its a wipe clean material, so is absolutely perfect for the dining table 🍴 Available by the half metre in length, its 140cm wide, so fits most tables, an easy option whilst not compromising on beautiful William Morris florals! 💐
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #morris #morrisfloral #floraltable #pvcfabric #oilclothfabric #floralfabric #florals #tablescape #tablescapeflorals #preraphaelite #fabrics #onlinefabric
Can’t forget your Strawberry Thief tote if you’re off to the shops! 🛍️
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #strawberrythief #france #totebag #totebags #floraltote