Mandarin Robe Goes Ballroom
magikquilter July 7th, 2008
This is the ballroom of a friend who lives in a heritage house in Sydney. Her ballroom is filled with antiques of all kinds and a glorious Persian Rug in Navy with gold and shot through with red. A year or so before I made this I had found the fabric and bought the whole bolt in a charity shop. I had been saving it for making a bedspread or curtains but when she was preparing for a function there [she also hires it for film shoots and allows it to be used for charity events] I suddenly thought that it would look stunning, especially as she uses Willow pattern china in blue for those functions.
After asking her to measure the table ….five metres I think it was…I had a word with her husband just to make sure us girls weren’t forcing our will onto him! He genuinely liked it and he even took photographs of the room before the function so I would have a record of my work. I made the table runner and backed it with the same fabric so that it would be reversible, a square tablecloth for the side table and dozens of large dinner napkins. the fabric was Mandarin Robe by Warner Fabric UK and it carries the Royal Warrant! The other photos are here.
I still have enough offcuts of the fabric to make some throws and I also found some stunning aqua brocade which will look perfect on an ottoman or footstool with a throw. I am saving that for myself and also one of the throws. It is going to be a mix of gold and cream and turquoise with splashes of hot pink..multi textured…I have got to get it finished! It has a surprise fabric in it of Colefax and Fowler. Got you wondering?
- Antiques , Courtesy , Creations , Design , Fabric , Sustainable Creations , artisan/designers
- Comments(3)
The fabric colour does look stunning and the napkins in the glasses look so elegant. How many napkins did you sew? It would have cost a fortune to have purchased them ready made. Really nice.
Thanks Judi yes I made around two dozen if I remember rightly!! i enjoy doing table runners and napkin sets as everybody uses them and they are fun to run up without the weight of a quilt.
What a fabulous table setting! I would love to visit the ballroom in person! I’ve been spending hours looking at your pics and becoming very motivated. Thank you for sharing your exciting life and fabulous sewing with all of us. Wow, it’s amazing. Did you see AnnaMarias new flickr?
Sorry i must have missed this comment…do not know how that happened….must check more regularly that I have answered all of them. I am sure you would be invited to see the ballroom if you came to Australia but that is only a small part of their gorgeous house. The husband has a private stream with lots of really big koi and whenever the grandchildren visit from England he takes them to feed the koi and the children bond with him all over again. They are a special family and very unpretentious….it was a joy to enhance their ballroom…they all deserved it.
So you have been in what I call the black hole of flickr? Its dangerous and it can get away from you! Yes I did see the new fabric range and just love her photos of her home. There is also a stunning coat made from her fabric in our group and I know you would love it….think I shall interview the artisan!
[...] with food on it, its too beautiful to ruin” High praise indeed, but then he also adored the Mandarin Robe ballroom setting I made them as [...]