When I was a child, our kitchen had the most amazing 1970s patterned wallpaper, and our living room was full of what’s now classic 1960s furniture, including a teak G-Plan sideboard. This collection is inspired by those mid-century homes.
The prints
Each print is a little scene I imagined from the era.
Dinner Party Night
Buddy Holly is on the record player and cocktails are served in curvy glasses. The dancing is in full swing, and everyone is jiving.
Office Business
The office phone is ringing and there are appointments to make. Wood-panelled walls, shag carpet and a classic Eames chair: the clock is ticking, and there are deals to be done.
Mid-century Days
Open-plan living is all the rage, and floor-to-ceiling windows let in the air and light. New gadgets make the jobs quick, leaving the rest of the day for lounging.
Bursting to the Stars
Out with the old and in with the new. Everyone crowds round the television to watch the space race. Could a man really walk on the moon?
Linda’s story: an imagined life, based on real history
To design this collection, I imagined a young woman living in mid-century Manchester. Linda is made up, but her story is based on real history.
Linda has just left school at 16 and is starting her first job as a secretary in an office on King Street in Manchester. She didn’t pass the 11-plus, so grammar school wasn’t an option, but jobs were plentiful. Employers even came to her school to offer the girls office work.
Linda learned to touch-type at school. In those days only men became managers, and women usually gave up work when they married and had children.
But for now, Linda has her own money and her freedom. She rents a room in a boarding house and goes dancing at the Ritz, jiving to Buddy Holly, Elvis and Cliff Richard.
When she marries, she dreams of a modern house with big windows and a garden, perhaps one of the Sunshine Houses at Irlams o’ th’ Height, or a new home in Wythenshawe’s garden city. No heavy, drab Victorian furniture for her: she wants bubble chairs, a starburst clock and her very own telephone. Her future looks bright.
Growing up with 1970s patterns
I was born in the early 1980s, but 1970s patterns were still everywhere: bold yellow and orange curtains and wallpaper, and an avocado bathroom suite. People still wore flares, corduroy skirts and psychedelic floral dresses.
Textile designers like Shirley Craven created bold, abstract prints, and boutiques like Biba sold romantic dresses with billowing sleeves.
I loved 1970s style long before it was cool again. As a teenager I dressed in it, listened to 70s funk, and shopped for vintage in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and Afflecks. Those bold patterns are what made me want to become a textile designer.
Retro prints are popular again today. Orla Kiely brought bold, geometric mid-century prints back into UK homes, and in Manchester, 70s House sells reproduction 1970s fabrics.
Make it yourself
Bold retro prints are perfect for simple makes. Pick a fabric you love and make your own with my free sewing cards. Every make takes 2 hours or less.
These fabrics aren’t on sale right now, but I hope to bring them back. Subscribe below and I’ll let you know.
Leave a Reply