26th April 2020
We’ve always been drawn to William Morris Eyebright design since it’s so versatile and timeless. One thing we love about Morris designs (additional to the actual designs themselves of course) is the stories behind them. The history that comes with his designs and the stories behind them are so unique. We thought we’d talk about Eyebright today.
We could never pick a favourite design, that’d be too hard.
Designed in 1883 by William Morris, Eyebright was never actually destined to be a principle design. It was initially designed to be a lining fabric; what a waste if we never got to see it because it was used as a lining fabric! Though what a fabulous lining that would have been…
The diagonal pattern is said to have been inspired by a 15th century Italian cut velvet, acquired by the South Kensington Museum.
Eyebright was printed using the indigo dye method, perfected by Morris. It’s a way of printing that’s super arduous, taking three days to prepare. Very much generalising the process, the cloth was dyed in an indigo vat so that the colour was uniform, then bleached with a bleaching reagent to reduce the base colour to the desired shade. When the colour was reduced as much as desired, mordants were applied to the bleached parts that had been printed and the cloth submerged in a madder vat to give the proper tint. The excess colour was then cleaned off, then, so the coloured wouldn’t run, the colours were set at boiling point, passing the fabric through soap. The cloth was then laid outside to dry, print side up which purified the white of the design. A labour intensive job then!
Waiter Crane is famous for telling a friend a story about Morris printing at Merton Abbey works. He called in to see his friend and, “hearing a strong cheery voice call out, ‘I’m dyeing, I’m dyeing, I’m dyeing”! Morris famously constantly walked round with hands and forearms stained blue from his work perfecting the technique.
All our fabric is printed in the United Kingdom and all products manufactured here too. We think that’s important; it reduces footprint transporting products and it’s how Morris did it which is important for authenticity for us. It also means we have full control over quality! All our William Morris designs are licensed and printed both size and colour wise to our own specifications to best fit our products. If you’re UK based and would like a sample, please contact us on social media or email and we’ll get one out to you!
Be sure to check out all our Eyebright products and fabric!
Posted in News by Laura
Did you know that in Japan where our projects are sold, our tea towels are used not only for being functional but for decoration - we love that they’re framed, or laid on the table as a centrepiece to be admired or hung as a draped item to bring some nature indoors 🌿 we thought we’d do the same by using the tea towel as a centrepiece for a simple cup of tea and very delicious piece of cake! 🍰
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With so many timeless designs and writings, we think Morris achieved his aim, don’t you? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #design #willowbough #quoteoftheday #quoteoftheday #quotestoliveby #preraphaelites #preraphaeliteart
Lazy Sunday mornings 💤 our William Morris Strawberry Thief tablecloths are now back in stock in all sizes if you fancy adding some floral magic to your table ✨ Hope you all have a lovely Sunday! 🩷
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #strawberythief #victorianartist #victorian #preraphaelite #preraphaeliteart #morris
A beautiful day on the beach; we had to take our incredible small Compton tote bag to carry a certain someone’s special treats that we got from the lovely @nationaltrust shop, can you tell he was very happy with them! 😂🫶🏻
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We’re going to have to look at this English summer through our rose coloured specs we think and set the table summery despite the rain!☔️🩷 We thought this made the perfect table setting; a bouquet with blooms out the garden wrapped in a Daisy napkin cone, doesn’t it look great! 🫶🏻 We’re going to put a small bunch at everyone’s seat and then they can take them home to enjoy at their houses 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #strawberrythief #napkins #floraldesign #florals #floraltabledecor #tablescape #daisy
✨ It’s the last day for 20% off our whole website! ✨ Use code: floralsummer at checkout on our website today only! 🫶🏻
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We’re thinking of selling our William Morris Daisy fabric by the half metre 🫶🏻 It’s a much narrower fabric than our usual fabrics, but we’ve had some customers interested in it in cotton and heavyweight for projects such as upholstery, curtain and dress making and quilting projects, what do you all think? ✨🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #daisy #fabricstack #fabricstash #quiltingfabric #quiltingcotton
✨✨ Offer extended ✨✨ We forgot to give you warning that our 20% off code was expiring and we thought it would brighten up some rainy July days, so now until the 14th July, take 20% off our website using code: FLORALSUMMER ☂️
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Always learning new napkin folds- anyone fancy a tutorial on how to make this little cutlery napkin jacket? 🍴🫶🏻 We’ve been using Willow Bough green and blue together on the table lately and we LOVE them together! 🌿 what do you think? Would you put them together on your table? ☺️
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#willowbough #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorris #williammorrisprint #florals #peony #peonyseason #tablescape #napkinfolding #napkinholder #tabledecor
These blooms 😍 We absolutely adore this design Charlotte Rose, it’s from our French archive that we lovingly restored to its former glory and bring out all year round for on the table- we paired it here with our Willow Bough green tablecloth and the greens and pinks go together so well 🫶🏻
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#frenchdesign #frenchfloral #frenchdesign #charlotterose #florals #tablescape #tabledecor #williammorrisdesign #williammorris #willowbough
Cut this wonderful fabric stack yesterday 🫶🏻 All these beautiful Morris florals together in our heavyweight fabrics 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabrics #fabricdestashuk #fabricstack
Our biggest summer sale alert! ‼️ Fancy 20% off our entire website?✨ Including our timeless Morris Strawberry Thief licensed design and everything else in our collection, just use code; floralsummer at checkout, hurry, it ends on the 7th July 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #strawberrythief #preraphaelites #victoriandesign #madeinengland #printedintheuk #summersale
One of our favourite Morris quotes 🫶🏻
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Enjoying peony season with some fresh blooms 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #willowbough #peonies #peony #florals #floraldesign #florallove
Breakfast featuring Strawberry Thief taking pictures whilst waiting for the toast to pop! 🍓
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#williammorrisdesign #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #fabric #fabrics #strawberrythief #strawberrythiefprint #victoriandesign #victorian #tablescapes #tablesettings #floraltable #floraltablescape
The simple things in life- a coffee and biscuit in the garden with some flowers 🌷 swipe for a little someone who is all ears when the word biscuit is mentioned 😅🍪
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Can’t go on holidays without our Strawberry Thief windbreak to huddle behind! ⛱️ We upcycled this using the posts from our old one, if you’ve got one hanging about the garden shed, the how-to is on our blog so you can craft your own using our William Morris fabrics that we sell by the half metre 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #upcycle #upcycledfurniture #upcycleproject #windbreaker #beachcraft #crafting #fabricstash #strawberrythief
Bertie’s been loving Bridgerton and thought he’d pose with the wisteria wearing his Daisy cravat 😉
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When the audio accurately sums up how you feel about a design 🫶🏻 Beautiful Sweet Briar was first designed in 1912, we love the sweet little pink flowers in the climbing rose stems 🌹 This licensed Morris design is now back in stock, let us know if you’d like a sample! ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabricstash #ukfabric #ukprinting #floralfabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign #floraldesigner
Our William Morris Willow Bough green placemats are now back in stock! ✨ They’re a beautiful addition to the table for every meal time 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #placemats #tablescape #floraltable #preraphaelite #floralhome