Viva La Liberty was entered into the 2016 Oversew Fashion Awards. Following and amazing night at the awards show for this extravaganza of remade, re-imagined and upcycled fashion, I can share the details of this outfit born out of years of collecting fabrics and hours of sewing.   The finished work  features a white linen camisole and a fully reversible circle skirt.


I’ve included the following excerpt from my accompanying entry, to tell the some of the story.

The Outfit

The camisole is based on a vintage 1950’s lingerie pattern, with darted shaping and bias cut body. I’ve updated the style has been updated to incorporate recycled details from a Liberty shirt.

The first side of the skirt features Liberty floral shirts pieced in a radiating spiral, starting with lightest at the top and gradually darkening towards the hem. The use of ombre in placement of fabrics, gives a contemporary edge to the more traditional Liberty prints.

The second side, again celebrates the wonder of Liberty prints with an allover pattern and white linen accent to the hem. This linen strip being the only new fabric visible in the garment.

Viva La Liberty was made possible by a  family tradition of saving, storing and exchanging garments.  The original garment include pieces found, donated and handsewn.  Pieces were gradually added for their texture, pattern and potential.

The finished pieces tell pay homage to Liberty patterns. The Liberty pattern has continued through times where pattern and decoration were dismissed by modernism as irrelevant. The fabrics are made from natural materials including natural linen, cotton and cotton lawn. This outfit tells a story of women choosing quality materials and detailed patterns to express their creativity.



And ….This outfit was judged Runner-Up in the Fire Worx section of the 2016 Oversew Fashion Awards. 

Details of the many, many garments that went into making Viva La Liberty to follow.