Store your Liberty collection in style, in storage that honours your special fabric...
Entering the world of Liberty fabric is to become gradually immersed in rich history, enticed by the luxurious feel and smooth texture.
It is really easy to become a die-hard fan who is happy spend a lot of time and energy hunting down special prints.
The history of Liberty Tana lawn goes back over 100 years, with the name originating from the Egyptian cotton grown on the banks of Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
The treatment of the cotton fibres are what gives this fabric its super silky feel. It really stands in a class of its own.
Liberty Lawn is now printed in Italy, near Lake Como, the hub of where many great textiles are produced today.
It’s awesome to think we can have a little slice of the fabrics that strut the Milan fashion catwalks today.
Ooooh so fancy!
Even if you’re not super interested in all of this, Liberty is extremely addictive, so much so that there are subscription clubs to collect it and Facebook groups to swap it.
Some OOP prints can sell for huge amounts!
So if you find yourself with a growing Liberty collection I have an exciting new storage solution for you.
If you collect small pieces of Liberty, specifically Fat 16ths up to Fat 4s, these boxes are the perfect storage for it.
I take being the keeper of such beautiful fabric seriously, and I didn’t want to put my collection into just any old plastic tub.
I feel it needs honouring and displaying, in ways that make it easy to find and easy to use.
Because after all, there’s two parts to this…the collecting, and then the using.
This box design is proof that a little bit of Liberty can go a long way of that…you only need two fat 16ths (13” x 9”) to feature as the stars of the show here.
I’ve loved the idea that I can showcase my Liberty on the boxes it’s stored in.
The box measures 3.5” x 4.5” x 10”, which is the perfect size to use almost the whole of two fat 16ths.
When the measurements worked out for this I was pumped you can be sure!
To get started on sewing these boxes, you’ll need the right inside support.
The tips for this box are mostly the same as my first Modular Storage Box with a couple of extras…
Because Liberty lawn is tighter weave and lighter weight, it’s important add a further reinforcing layer when pairing it with a quilting weight fabric.
I like to use Pellon Shape Flex (SF-101) which is a lightweight woven fusible interfacing, and adds just the right amount of extra crispness.
You’ll definitely notice the difference if you leave this out of your box construction.
So even though we’ll putting this together with Fuse’n’shape 71-F, you’ll want to have this as extra body just for the Liberty.
Use a Microtex 70-80 needle if you can, but this is not essential. You can use what you’ve got. I’ve got 75 quilting size needles.
I’ve paired the Liberty on the outside of the box with others special fabric…the white cotton you can see on mine is actually vintage sheeting from my husband’s grandma.
It’s slightly heavier than quilting cotton with a bit more texture, and makes these boxes even more meaningful when I can see something everyday to remind me of her.
Some of it's yellowed, some of it's worn, so I cut around those bits but made sure to include some of the lived-in character.
See what special fabric you can find to make your boxes with...whether it's recycled, or something you've been saving for just a purpose like this...
It’s my experience that finding enough projects to actually use Liberty for can be a bit of challenge.
If you’re not a garment sewer, or a super prolific quilter, than it can tend to build up into a bit of a dust collector.
This box pattern is another fun and fabulous use for using your Liberty, and when you’re sewing storage with it, it’s really doing double duty isn’t it!?
I’ve decided to store my Liberty stash in roughly colour order, and and so I’m pairing up the exterior Liberty with a lining that matches.
I’m also planning to make a Betsy box, and a Capel themed box, as these are two iconic prints that I especially love.
So once again I’ve designed a vinyl pocket for the front of the box, and a series of printable labels to cut up and put inside with everything important noted on the front.
I love these designs even more than the first box series.
They are seriously cool, and I can’t say how much I enjoy seeing these on the shelf.
After you've filled your box, record the contents on the label with the size of your pieces, and any other meaningful information you'd like to include.
Sometimes I like to record where something came from, or the date I got it.
Folding your fabric to fit the box is really quick and easy.
Follow the steps on the graphic below, starting with the biggest size that you have. So if you have fat 8ths, start there.
Place the fabric into the box with the fold uppermost, to keep the raw edges out of sight.
The best part of this design is that once again, they fit the Ikea Billy Bookcases perfectly.
Your precious collection will be behind glass, safe from dust and most of the damage that comes from UV light.
You can fit 8 boxes across a shelf, and let me tell you, that holds a lot of Liberty! We've counted one box can easily hold eighty fat 16ths!
I have a whole shelf widths done so far, and I can’t wait to get started on several more colours.
I’ll need a green one, black one, low volume one, and probably another couple of blues and pinks, along with the Betsy and Capel boxes mentioned above.
So I’ll keep you posted with my progress!
Seeing these in a row on my shelf brings me so much joy, and is giving me so many new ideas with what you do with my Liberty…I'd love to your Liberty box creations, so make sure to tag me on socials with your progress! #ModularLibertyBox
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