abigail*ryan Irish Linen Landscape Collection...

We're so excited to have launched this beautiful collection of Irish Linen plains at the weekend... we've been so inspired by the beautiful colour palette in Ireland for years now, and always incorporate amazing colour combinations we see in nature in to our patterned designs... 

So (!) we thought it was time to add some beautiful plains to our range of fabric yardage - many of which are designed to pair beautifully with our prints, and some of which are just awesome stand alone colours, and so inherently 'Irish', we just couldn't remove them from our plans.

At the heart of this collection is it's Heritage. Woven and dyed in Northern Ireland by a family firm who have milled linens for over 150 years, we're incredibly proud of and in love with these cloths. Brights, Neutrals and interesting, workable shades that will look incredible in the home, all with the most stunning texture, flow, slub and weight... this is fabric to live with, that will live with you and just give and give. Irish linen has a remarkable heritage, and, as a young Irish brand, with a studio in an old linen mill (Conway Mill), we're so excited to be full circle and presenting this gorgeous collection to the public and our clients... we've used Irish Linen to back our cushions and make our Heirloom Quilts since we first started abigail*ryan, so we're delighted to be able to extend it's footing in our collection.

We hope you love our presentation for this range as much as we do... we've paired some of our original photos and inspiration for the palette with the fabric swatches so you can be transported to Ireland with us!

... most of our colour names are quite self-explanatory (though we hope deliciously evocative!), but we thought you might like some translation for the three Gaelic words we included...

Anfa (AHN-FAH) - Irish for Tempest or Storm...

Caschoill (CASH-ILL) - Irish for Scrub or Bush...

Farraige (FAH-RI-GUH) - Irish for Sea...

Don't these gorgeous colours and words make you want to visit Ireland right now?! ;)

Come see us!

A&R

abigail*ryan - Our New Collection, Photo-shoot...

 

We thought we would stop in and share some photos from our recent photo shoot, which took place in early September.

Our wonderful photographers, Brideen Baxter and Deci Gallen at Photography by Brideen were a dream to work with, and we're delighted with the finished images. Thank you so much B&D! We had such fun styling the photos, and it was a really intense (and long) day, but utterly worth it.

Our NEW fabric and cushions will be ready, and in the shop very soon and our wallpaper is online right here!

We hope you love the new pictures, and collection, as much as we do!

A&R

Press for abigail*ryan!

 

We have some pieces from our new collection in two lovely Irish magazines this month, and they are on new-stands now!

First, we have House & Home magazine, which has featured our stack of Cushions on their back page as part of the editors top 10... thanks so much to the team at House & Home!

Secondly, we have our brand new Fabric Yardage (available online at the end of November) in Ireland's Homes Interiors & Living magazine, in a special feature about domestic fabrics... gorgeous pieces, and we were delighted to add a pop of a*r colour to the spread! Thanks to the IHIL team.

Both magazines are on new-stands now.

A@a*r

The Craft House at Hartley Hall...

We were contacted several months ago by the lovely Interior Designer & Stylist and Jacob Street owner, Maureen Collins, to take part in The Craft House - a specially curated show home at Hartley Hall in Greenisland, which showcased some of the best art and design talent in Northern Ireland.

Well, the house was completed a couple of weeks ago after a huge amount of hard work and creativity from Maureen, and the Press Launch was last Friday evening.

We went along, and it was lovely to get chatting to all the other designers and makers who had taken part. I snapped some pictures of our Wallpaper, Cushions and Fabric which had been used upstairs in the second bedroom. We absolutely loved seeing the Cosmo Florimetric Fabric on the beautiful antique chair Maureen had chosen... and our Wallpaper used to line the fab Deco-style wardrobe she had also painted.

Hartley Hall Craft House, in Greenisland, is open on Sunday's 2-4pm. You can read a bit more about it on their facebook page, and on their blog, the Crafty Rabbit.

Thanks so much to Maureen for doing such a lovely job with our wares!

A@ a*r

Book Review: The Liberty Book of Home Sewing...

A few months ago, Ryan surprised me with (as far as I am concerned!) one of the craft book releases of the YEAR! The Liberty Book of Home Sewing... I was extremely excited when I opened it...

Now, obviously, we run a business with foundations of sewing, designing sewn products and fabric, but that in no way took the sheen off how inspiring this book is for me!

From the moment you pick up the book, you appreciate the details: The fabric cover, so tactile, and beautifully embossed with the title. And as soon as you open the book you are greeted with bright and breezy end pages, printed with gorgeous Liberty designs! It's certainly a good start ;)

... going forward, you turn page after page of inspiring sewing projects - from pretty frilly aprons, door-stops, or even kimono-dressing gowns where you can be inspired by the combinations of colours and fabrics the stylists and authors have so (seemingly) effortlessly woven together. The feel of the book is upbeat, with cheerful hand-drawn step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow and engaging. The projects themselves, are like jewels you would happily lay down a lot of money for in a shop, and you are excited about the prospect of being able to create yourself!

I personally think this would be a wonderful book for beginner and more experienced sewers alike. It's really an exercise in learning how wonderfully all sorts of patterns, colours, scales of prints and textures can work together... as a serious colour and print enthusiast, I loved it!

Yet another wonderful release from the Liberty team, and a fabulous glimpse in to their fabric collection, somehow capturing the feel of their haberdashery department (which is one of my favourites) for those who might not be able to visit in person.

I would certainly recommend this book. Sitting down with this, and a cup of good tea on a sunny afternoon is a VERY nice way to spend some time.

Don't miss Liberty's wonderful SEW LIBERTY club, where you can find some How to Make Videos and downloadable patterns...

Abigail@abigail*ryan

Fabric Sampling & New Patterns...

Excitement here in the studio... our new pattern design (Agapanthus and Elderflower) arrived back from the printers for our colour sampling check stage. Two of them are absolutely perfect, so the Chartreuse & Olive and Cream & Stone are GO... we also have a charcoal colourway, which we are going to tweak again to get it just right!

... we're also loving our a*r cotton, which will be getting used in a very special way as part of our forthcoming Heirloom collection. Can you guess how? I keep giggling calling it our pirate fabric... ar! ;)

We (well, me!) are *seriously* excited to print some of the chartreuse for our living room - we have a new dark floor to go down, a wall to paint Olive and our new fabric to turn in to curtains (I have even spied a hot pink curtain rail that will bring out the hot pinks and purples in the flowers!)... maybe it will be our Christmas pressie to ourselves?!

These new lovelies will shortly be available as cushions in our shop... perhaps in around a month to six weeks. Stay tuned!

Bye for now!

Abigail @ a*r