Do you have some Liberty on hand that you are afraid to use? DO NOT FEAR! Use my simple tips for working with Liberty lawn, and add some handmade beauty to your life!
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Welcome to Olivia Jane Handcrafted! I'm Meredith and this is my creative journal. Here you'll find loads of inspiration for a handmade wardrobe, home decor, bags, and quilts. I even have plenty of projects and tutorials to get you started or help you along the way.
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seriously awesome! everything i ever wanted to know about sewing with liberty and then some. must try the aurifil thread…do you use ordinary needles or the microtex?
Just a universal 70/10… and I’m sure you know WAY more about all things Liberty than I do!!
Thanks so much Meredith! Conveniently I ordered a set of Aurifil threads from Massdrop – they’re on route so I’ll hold off sewing until then! Such a great post x
I do have a stash of Liberty I’m nervous to cut into…I’m now thinking a rotary cutter might make the difference. I always love to see your photos of liberty fabrics, it makes it much easier for me to choose what to buy. Thanks for all the great tips!
I bought my first bundle of Liberty of London tana lawn fabric. I haven’t even received it yet, and I’m worried about sewing it. Do you prewash and then starch your fabric before cutting? I’m using the fabric for quilts. The first one I want to make is Elizabeth Hartman’s Fancy Fox quilt.
Camille! Its taken me forever to reply to comments, and I’m terribly sorry! So with Liberty I never prewash or starch when making clothing or quilts. Give it a good pressing, and you’ll be ready to sew. :) It won’t shrink.
Excellent entry. I am currently hand piecing small Liberty hexagons, and am having trouble finding the right hand sewing needle to piece Liberty without leaving gaping holes at the seams. Do you recommend a hand sewing needle/size for piecing (not hand quilting) with this fabulous fabric? Many thanks.
For binding and really fine fabrics I use a long, extremely sharp needle that’s very fine and has a small eye called a straw needle. I’m not sure who manufactures them, but I get them from my local quilt shop. I’m assuming if you google “straw needle” you would find something that’s at least similar. I’m sorry to be so vague, but I don’t have any of the packaging on hand, as all of those needles are currently living in a pincushion.
Just the answer I needed. Thanks!
[…] Sewing with Liberty Tips from Olivia Jane […]
[…] but aren’t sure how to use them. In addition, if you are new to sewing with Liberty, I have a great post written up on everything you need to know about sewing with this high quality, beautiful […]
I’m not familiar with aurifil thread; can you recommend a comparable product?
What do you use to interface a collar on a dress?
Thanks.
I’m glad to read that you don’t prewash the Tana Lawn before sewing as I hadn’t planned on doing that. Do you pre-wash the Free-Spirit solid voile?
Nope! I only prewash things like quilt weight cottons if they are destined to become clothing. Voile and lawn don’t shrink and they are easy to work with unwashed.
Thanks! Very helpful. I just received my Free Spirit voile and it’s even silkier than the Tana Lawn! I keep touching it and finding it hard to believe it’s really cotton!
When sewing garments, do you use a regular stitch length or reduce the length because of the thinness of the material? I am getting a little puckering, so I will try using a smaller needle and perhaps changing the thread, but I was also wondering if changing the stitch length would help as well.
I don’t reduce the stitch length. I use about a 2-2.5. Getting a smaller needle and thread should take away any puckering.
Regarding basting Liberty lawns for a quilt, do you use a spray basting material or pins? The basting pins I have seem way to huge to not leave marks in the Liberty. Thank you!!
I detest basting spray. I know I’m in the minority as so many boast about how fast it is. I just use regular curved safety pins. They aren’t big- just normal size and I don’t have any issue with them leaving holes or marks.
Thank you!! I’ve never spray basted and am reluctant to. Thanks again!
Have a bag of Liberty scraps to practise on before I get down to some serious projects with my beautiful Tana Lawn fat quarter bundle and dress fabric. Can’t wait to get started. Thank you for all your very helpful tips.
Very nicely written informative thread!
Thank you, Karen!
Thank you for the tips. I was wondering about “holes” made during the quilt process. When I work with regular cotton quilt fabric, my little knots that get tugged through the top layer while quilting leave a tiny opening, hole, in the fabric. These disappear after the first washing. Will the liberty fabric be as forgiving about these tiny openings after washing? Thank you!
Absolutely. I generally use 8 weight when hand quilting Liberty. It has a much higher thread count than standard quilt weight cotton so it’s much more forgiving.
Hello Meredith,
I enjoyed your article. My mum loved Liberty fabric so it has special memories for me. The information on mixing fabrics was helpful.
May I make a small correction? You used the phrase “through the ringer” but it is actually “through the wringer”. It refers to an old-fashioned clothes wringer or mangle, which were pretty tough on the washing, not to a bell ringing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)
There are some beautiful designs of mangles, but washdays were hard work back then!
Thanks for that. :)
When using liberty in a quilt along side a cotton fabric, should you line the liberty with solid voile or is that just for dress making?
That’s just for garment making. Good question!
Looking to purchase Floriani thread. So far I am finding only what is called embroidery thread. Is that what you use for garment construction with Liberty fabric?
Yep! That’s what I use.
Thank you for sharing your expertise. I am contemplating sewing a Liberty tana lawn dress, and I am having a hard time finding a source for the Free Spirit solid voile online. Can you recommend a source? Thank you!
Absolutely! So they stopped manufacturing what I think was their best product ever, so I’ve had to find an alternative. I have been using this voile from Robert Kaufman http://www.jonesandvandermeer.com/products/robert-kaufman-vanessa-silky-voile.html or if you would like a greater variety of colors and want your lining to match your lawn exactly, Liberty does have a range of solid tans lawns https://www.fabric.com/find?searchText=Liberty+solid+lawn
[…] Sewing with Liberty Tana Lawn […]
Great post–glad I found it! I usually hand quilt with size 8 perle cotton and a size 6 embroidery needle. What do you recommend needlewise for hand quilting Liberty?
Really helpful blog . Never used Liberty fabric but it is so luxurious and I want to make a dress to wear to sons graduation. It seems so thin so assuming I should line. If I sewed a maxi dress with 2 tiers for the skirt part, would I need lining for top body and also the skirt tiers? The tiers will have gathers hence why I was wondering if lining the tiers will be appropriate. Thanks
I would line the top portion of the skirt. I highly recommend Vanessa Silky Voile which I buy here: https://www.jonesandvandermeer.com/products/robert-kaufman-vanessa-silky-voile.html the price is unbeatable and it behaves just like the lawn which is the best way to line, in my opinion!
Your work is lovely. DO you mean that when you make a liberty quilt, you add an additional layer of voile? Or do you just pair it with voile? I want to make a liberty quilt but don’t want it to become threadbare too quickly.
I started sewing with Liberty about 5 years ago. Just started small and started a collection of their prints. I knew I wanted to make a quilt someday. Well then I started smocking and found out how beautiful Liberty prints were to sew garments with. I then was on a mission to make myself a Liberty dress. Fast forward 5 years, we traveled to London and the Liberty store was my first stop. I now have yardage for a dress and blouse. I love all your tips and plan on starting after the holiday rush. I loved reading everything you posted about this subject.
Hello, I’m making a quilt top with Liberty Tana lawns and I am trying to find a suitable solid to pair with them.
Would the Robert Kaufman silky voile work for a quilt top? I’ve also read the Pure Solids are s good match. Are there any others you can recommend aside from the Liberty solids? Thanks very much.
my favorite is the silky voile! I love Free Spirit solid voiles as well, though those are not as easy to find these days. Kaufman voile is much more affordable that Liberty solids and I do find it comparable. I personally do not like Art Gallery fabrics, but know that is a preference based on what I’ve worked with.