26th February 2019
If you browse through our collections, you will see just how many beautiful William Morris designs we license and print for an array of products. Do you have a favourite? One of the things we love the most about Morris’ designs is that they often have a story behind them too. In this blog, we wanted to discuss our favourite stories behind the design.
Strawberry Thief has long been one of our favourite Morris designs. It’s extremely well known today so you might recognise it even if you’ve not looked into Morris designs too closely. First produced in 1883 at Merton Abbey, it was an absolute triumph for Morris. It marked the perfecting of the indigo- dye technique. During the industrial revolution, machines were increasing in popularity and Morris wanted a return to traditional craftsmanship.
Like many of Morris’ designs, Strawberry Thief was inspired by nature. The story goes that it’s inspired by when William Morris was watching the thrushes under the strawberry nets at Kelmscott Manor, stealing his strawberries. May Morris spoke of the design which sparks a wonderful illustration in the mind when you think of it, “You can imagine my Father going out in the early morning and watching the rascally thrushes at work on the fruit beds and telling the fanned who growls ‘I’d like to wring their necks!’ that no bird in the garden must be touched. There were certainly more birds than strawberries in spite of attempts at protection. And the walls of the little dining-room are hung with this note of the June garden and the little lords of it.” What a lovely insight into the Morris family life!
His method of printing in Merton Abbey was one way Morris kept true to his beliefs. Printing using traditional methods, the Indigo Dye method was a complex and laborious process. It took three days to prepare and due to the complex nature of the process, it needed to be really accurate. It was a time consuming way to print but it was a beautiful way to print and created the stunning colours. To begin, the cloth was dyed all over in an indigo vat – this created the uniform blue colour all over the fabric.
Then, it was treated with a bleaching reagent which reduced the blue to the degree wanted to achieve the desired base colour. Next, mordants were applied to the bleached part. The whole cloth was then immersed into a madder vat which gave the proper tint that was necessary for the particular design wanted at that print run.
Excess colour was cleaned off and then the fabric is run through soap at boiling point to set the fabric. Then, the cloth was laid outside in the sun with the white side face up so that the design is purified. It’s clear from this to see why the whole process took three days to complete and why the fabric was so expensive to purchase. Today, all our licensed William Morris designs and exclusive French Floral designs are printed in the United Kingdom using a modern, flat bed printing technique.
Our products are both printed and manufactured in the United Kingdom, and are licensed designs by William Morris, printed both size and colour-wise to our own specifications to best suit our products. We have William Morris Strawberry Thief in both a red and blue colourway.
Which is your favourite story behind a William Morris design?
Posted in News by Laura
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 🌿✨
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#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! 🌿
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#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! 🤍
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#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 🤍🩰
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#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? 🤍
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#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 🤍
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#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 🎁
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#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 🌿
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#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 🌿
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#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 🤍
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#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 🥂
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#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 🥂
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#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 ☺️
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #preraphaelite #preraphaelites #fabricstash #fabricstack #ukfabric #ukfabricshop #floralfabrics
Autumn tablescapes always brighten the home up this time of year ✨ This is our William Morris Compton design, always super popular it’s got the most beautiful colours within it ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #morrisfabric #compton #autumntablescape #tablescape #floraltable #myfloralhome #floraltablescape
🎃 Just a little pup in his pumpkin outfit to deliver a Halloween treat for you! Get 15% off our website with code: Halloween 👻 His little Strawberry Thief bandana is so easy to make from our fabric and always looks so cute on him, we need to make him one in every design! ✨ (discount code can be used only on our website until Sunday at midnight!) 🎃
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#halloweendog #halloweendogsofinstagram #halloweendogcostume #labrador #labradorpuppy #labpuppy #williammorrisfabric #williammorris #morris #preraphaelite #strawberrythief
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 🌷
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#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? ✨
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#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 🧡
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#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! 💐
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#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! 🛍️
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #strawberrythief #france #totebag #totebags #floraltote