Laurens round up of The g&g exclusive Dressmaking Fabric Collections

This now iconic g&g print actually came about by chance. I had been thinking about how amazing it would be to have my own designs that you could only get at g&g, but hadn’t taken the thought much further than that. Then, by accident really, I spotted a new design on Rachel Parkers instagram feed and sort of had this light bulb moment. It stopped me in my scroll and there was just something about it that I loved so much and I knew would look amazing on a fabric. I bought exclusive rights to the design and worked with Rachel to recolour it into lots of different colour ways. I then narrowed it down to just 4 and that was our first collection of g&g exclusive fabrics! I had them printed onto a lovely smooth viscose lawn that was perfectly swishy and we featured it in 3 kits - The TIlly and the Buttons Lyra, The By Hand London Marie Bouse and the Closet Core Elodie Dress. The fabric was so popular, all of that original print run has long gone! 

Due its huge popularity and demand we have brought it back several times since and now carry in stock 3 colourways on a French Terry Base, with coordinating ribbing fabric (Sky blue and Pink now left in the ribbing). This fabric first featured in the Megan Nielsen Jarrah Jumper kit. 

We have also more recently re printed two new colours ways and the every popular navy and teal colourway. Sky blue, pink and the Teal all featured in the Poppy Blouse Sewing Society Kit.

As I approached the 10 year mark of having the shop and after the success of Chicacheetah design, I thought it would be lovely to mark this business milestone with a special fabric design. 

I knew I wanted it to be floral and I have always been so inspired by the Liberty fabrics and how all of the details in them have meaning and connection. I worked with Rachel Parker again to create a design that was full of flowers and foliage connected to me and my family by name, as well as the month of April - that’s the month when we first opened the doors of g&g! Featuring the ‘Lauren Peony - Paeonia Lactiflora’, Solomons Seal, Herb Sophia - Descurainia Sophia, Sophia Fuschia, the Scottish Harebell, Sweet Peas and Daisys - for the month of April and finally a Bumble Bee - representing my time on The Great British Sewing Bee. 

I had this fabric produced on a buttery soft and floaty smooth Viscose in 3 different colourways and it was featured in the Closet Core Nicks Top and Dress Kit. We still have all 3 colourways available and I’ve seen so many lovely garments created with the fabric over the past few years!

For my next collection I wanted to try something totally different from the floral aesthetic and found inspiration in two cute and quirky vintage prints that had in my stash and also in a ready to wear blouse that I bought years ago. I would always get so many compliments on that blouse and people would ask if I’d made it. The frustrating thing was I could have easily made it - I just couldn’t find that fabric anywhere so it was the perfect opportunity to create it myself!

Using that as a starting point and drawing the bold shapes of geometric repeats of the Bauhaus art movement I worked again with Rachel Parker to create a small collection of prints for an Autumn/Winter and a Spring Summer Range. Due to production complications and also having a baby in the midst of it all, the launch of the collection ended up being later than planned and we released the Autumn/Winter Bauhaus prints at a special event in October 2024 to mark selling our 20,000th Sewing Society kit! 

Bauhaus Slopes in White and Ice blue, Navy Bauhaus Segments and Teal Bauhaus Jigsaw prints were produced on a fine and elegant viscose crepe base cloth and featured in the Closet Core Jenna Shirt and the Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress. 

We now have all of these prints available, just note that the Navy Bauhaus Segments is now on our slightly heavier Viscose Poplin weight. 

For the Spring/Summer Vintage Bauhaus collection the conversational print featured fun swimmers on two different backgrounds, subtly nodding again to the geometrics of Bauhaus art. Bauhaus Floats is also part of this collection, featuring colourful shapes floating around like floats on water with a fresh pink spring background. I also recoloured the Segments print to have a vibrant Aqua colour with amazing pops of coral, lilac, pint and blues. All of these prints are on a Viscose poplin base and were featured in the Matchy Matchy Wave Float Top kit and the Closet Core Charlie Caftan Dress.

Sewing for the Summer time is my favorite time of year. I love the sunshine and the energy and calmness that brings and this collection really celebrates that summer feeling. 

So, inspired by warm days with the brightest of sunshine to give you that gorgeous Summer feeling that makes you smile and relax, I’ve drawn inspiration from icons and symbols of Greek Mythology and Goddesses whose power reflects the power you have when you can sew your own clothes, choose your own style and trends and feel confident and proud in what you wear. 

I love going on holiday to Greece and have lots of happy family memories of visiting there. Those bright vivid blues against the crisp brightness of the sunshine and white washed walls, I knew would work perfectly as part of a fabric collection. 

I wanted some statement prints that still felt very wearable along with some more paired back co-ordinate designs that were just as eye-catching. I worked with a very talented fabric designer who was able to bring my vision and ideas to life in such a beautiful way across 4 prints, one with two colour ways. 

For full details of each print you can check out the dedicated blog explaining the inspiration of this collection.

These prints were featured in the Closet Core Fran Shirt Kit, with co-ordinating trouser bundle and the Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges Dress and Blouse kit.

If you are looking for special fabrics, full of love and meaning to create special garments that you’ll treasure and love forever then I hope you find something you love from my collections! Stay tuned - there is more to come! Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter and be the first to hear all the news!