At the Back of the Cupboard!

I found these the other day at the back of a little-used cupboard and after watching a lovely programme about Laura Ashley on Wales TV last night, I decided to do this post.

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Above is the collection of goodies that I found.

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The selection includes some Laura Ashley fabric. Laura Ashley spent a lot of her time in Wales in Carno, Powys and even had a factory here. After her death in 1985 she was buried in Wales and over 2,000 people attended her funeral.
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The two Laura Ashley fabrics - and if my reading of Roman numerals is correct they were both printed in 1977. Laura Ashley prints were used for her country-style wear and to me are her most well known prints.

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This red piece has a width of 46"/117cm and a length of 74"/190cm.

Looks as though there is enough for perhaps a skirt.

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A close-up of the red pattern.

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This is has the same date of 1977 and the measurements are a width of 48"/120cm and length of 42"/107cm. Quite a small piece - maybe for a cushion cover. The colour is not very good as it is actually a fairly bright orange/yellow.

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A closer look at the pattern.

An interesting bit of information given on the programme, by one of the original designers, was that they always put a flaw of some kind into their print - they felt that this gave it more authenticity, rather than being flawless. I can't find it though!

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Another find was this piece of Habitat cloth and presumably 'Catherine Wheel' is the name of the pattern. It has a width of 48"/120cm and length of 38"/97". Again a fairly small piece.

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This is a rather delightful pattern and the colours are pretty true.

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Then there is this piece of quite colourful floral patterned cotton fabric. Although it was with the other fabrics I don't think it is Laura Ashley as it doesn't have the name along the selvedge. If someone knows what it is I would be pleased to know.

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The floral pattern is rather garish. Its width is 34"/86cm and length 96"/240cm.

A fairly large piece.

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The other find was these two Butterick Classic patterns for sizes 12/14/16. They are probably a lot smaller than the same sizes today, but I think they are great. I don't appear to have used either of them and don't know what I had in mind to make. I did do quite a lot of sewing in the 70s - dresses, shirts, (even a jacket with bound buttonholes!) etc, but don't do any now.

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I really don't quite know what to do with this little cache of memorabilia. I don't think I will use the fabric or the patterns, so if there is anyone out there who would like to buy them from me or give me some good ideas for their use I would be very pleased.

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I know there are a lot of lovely crafting bloggers out there who may be interested enough to give me some ideas.

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Ann x