My new home in the Adur Valley has inspired my new collection of Dora fabrics - I've discovered incredible patterns carved and painted in the ancient medieval churches along the river and have been drawing and printing these all summer. I've named my designs after our local Saint's - St Cuthman, St Peter and St Botolph. St Cuthman pushed his mother to Steyning in a wheelbarrow - you see his picture all over Steyning and the boys climb on his statue next to the Church.
My other big discovery are the local plants, like the weld I found growing under the Shoreham flyover. When I boiled it up in my dye pot, gorgeous, rich, yellow colour filled the pot and filled the kitchen with a rich wonderful smell. I was intoxicated and carried on dying cloth for months... Then in autumn I moved onto walnut husks for their warm brown colour and in the spring I'm looking forward to digging up rhubarb on the allotment and enjoying it's soft pink colour.
What do you think of my fabrics? I wish you could smell them - they smell so sweet. I hope St Cuthman would approve - he's certainly been popular on curtains and blinds. If you would like a fabric sample or would like to find out more about pattern-making, printing and natural dyeing in the Adur Valley, please get in touch by emailing me at dorapattern@gmail.com.
