It’s not too late to sow sweet peas - so easy to It’s not too late to sow sweet peas - so easy to grow and blissfully fragrant in the summer months. 
They were my mum’s favourite flower, so growing them now feels like a precious connection. Especially when I pick some and arrange them in her beautiful old blue and gold jug just as she used to do with the sweet peas my dad grew for her every year.
There are some really handy tips for growing success from founder of The Real Flower Company Rosebie Morton over on the blog (link in bio). Rosebie has a whole farm dedicated to sweet peas near Chichester so she knows a thing or two about the subject!
Main thing I’ve picked up from her is to allow lots of depth for root growth at this stage and to make my own supportive wigwams from twiggy branches when the plants are really starting to go for it and need a bit of direction. This photo is making me yearn slightly.
I love this image of my friend Jo - we were trying I love this image of my friend Jo - we were trying out tiny living for a feature I was writing - this was taken on our way to indulge in a spot of forest bathing. To be totally honest, we were both a little sceptical beforehand. But we were only saying the other day how taken aback we both were by the amazing effect it had. I’m working on some new ideas around the subject - will keep you posted. X
I’m currently working on a redesign of the whole I’m currently working on a redesign of the whole site - which has meant lots of photo editing and reorganising so much content. What’s been lovely (despite the claw hand from so much keyboard work!) is revisiting work and becoming engrossed all over again. I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve been (re) loving - with links in the bio to the old site for now, but not for long…! X
This  image is from a feature about preserving garden roses. I’m going to give this a really good go this year, now I have a better idea what I’m doing. I know there’s nothing quite like a fragrant fresh rose in Summer but there’s a fragile beauty to dried and preserved flowers that I also love, don’t you?
Snowdrops 🌱🤍 . . . . . . #capturequiet #ins Snowdrops 🌱🤍 
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.
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.
.
.
#capturequiet #instabritain #natureandnourish #thewildernesstonic #cornersofmyworld
Signed copies of Bex Partridge’s new book Flower Signed copies of Bex Partridge’s new book Flowers Forever to be won! My bio has the link to enter as well as to get a peek inside. Beautifully photographed by Laura Edwards, I really enjoyed escaping into the pages and making plans for my own garden - hope you do too! X
To the Moon and Back Hares KNITTING PATTERN by Cla To the Moon and Back Hares KNITTING PATTERN by Claire Garland aka @dotpebbles_knits has to be the perfect post Christmas craft project 😊 
If you fancy getting your needles out to make this adorable pair, the link to buy Claire’s pattern is in my bio. Happy knitting! X
Thank you so much to Sarah @floribundaroseflorists Thank you so much to Sarah @floribundaroseflorists for a wonderful wreath making workshop yesterday. Such a special and creative space to spend time. I loved making my wreath - I went for a mixture of greenery arranged quite randomly with red waxed fresh apples, dried hydrangea, dried flowers, poppy and nigella seed heads and a winter white velvet bow. 
There were so many wonderful ingredients to choose from we were really spoiled for choice. 
Sarah’s new studio is such a beautiful, creative space. Think fragrant botanical candles flickering everywhere, mulled wine and apple juice simmering on the stove and containers full of fragrant festive greenery, waxed fruit, dried flowers and oranges, pine cones, lichen covered branches and even tiny gold wax-dipped fresh crab apples. 
Thank you for being so patient with my lengthy ribbon choice deliberations Sarah - and for bagging up a second choice option (dusky pink) to take home! X.  #wreathmaking #wreath #wreathsofinstagram #sustainablewreaths #wreathdecor #christmaswreath #velvetribbon #christmasdecor #festiveflowers
I’ve loved Olga Prinku’s work for ages now - s I’ve loved Olga Prinku’s work for ages now - she came up with the genius idea of embroidering on tulle using nature as her thread - and the results are sublime - like this Autumn colours beauty from her latest book.
I’m delighted that Olga is offering a fantastic prize bundle to my readers. For a chance to win one of her beautiful new dried flower embroidery kits (in collaboration with @driedandfloral ) as well as a signed copy of her wonderful new book(published by @quadrillebooks , pop over to my blog (link in my bio). It’s easy to enter so why don’t you give yourself a chance of winning this very lovely prize? Good luck! 
#driedflowers #driedflowerembroidery #olgaprinku #embroideryhoop #flowerembroidery #competitiontime #signedbooks #embroideryart #flowersontulle #autumn #autumncolours #hoopart #allthingsbotanical #instacraft
This beautiful image is by Laura Pashby @circleofp This beautiful image is by Laura Pashby @circleofpines and is from her beautiful new book Little Stories of Your Life. 
It’s packed with inspiration and practical ideas to help you become a visual story teller. Because, as Laura says, it’s the little moments that make up the fabric of all of our lives - and those moments are worth capturing and sharing with others.
We have three signed copies of the book to give away - just click the link in my bio to find out more. There’s a peek inside and a lovely film by @xantheb to enjoy too! X 
#littlemoments #littlestoriesbook #alifeofwords #lostinwords #competition #booksarelife #mindfulphotography #bookstagram #booksmakemehappy #booksconnectus #igreads #whatareyoureading #signedbooks
Thanks to Lisa from @inthemaking_aprons who has sh Thanks to Lisa from @inthemaking_aprons who has shared her wonderfully creative ideas for visibly mending well-loved clothing in need of repair and a little TLC.
She had me at ‘sometimes I like to use giant sequins…’ 
Hope you like Lisa’s ideas as much as I do. The link to head over to my blog and get all her step by steps is in my bio x
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FABRIC CRAFT, MAKE · October 16, 2024

Indigo dye shibori workshop with Flora Arbuthnott

Indigo dye shibori workshop with Flora Arbuthnott

I’ve had a bit of a thing for indigo dye shibori and ombre effects for a little while now so I was delighted when Flora Arbuthnott (listed in our directory here) invited me to join one of her organic Indigo dye shibori workshops. After just one day, I came home with this little collection (which I couldn’t resist hanging up and photographing to show you!)

Read on for a peek behind the scenes of the totally wonderful day I spent with Flora as well as to get all the info you need to try your hand at indigo dyeing too. It’s easier than you might think and totally addictive!

indigo shibori dye tutorial diy workshop with natural dye expert flora arbuthnott, learning how to create a dye vat, how to make shibori tie dye patterns and master the natural indigo dye process #indigo #dye #shibori #workshops #tutorial #DIY

Cotswolds studio

Flora is the daughter of fabric designer Vanessa Arbuthnott and the workshops  run from the studio at the family’s beautiful country home near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. It’s a chilly Sunday morning as I drive up the gravel drive and head inside to meet my course mates for the day. There is a small, friendly and highly creative group of three other women as well as Flora’s mum, Vanessa, who is taking part too. Flora clearly really knows her stuff.

vanessa arbuthnott studovanessa arbuthnott studio

With cups of tea and biscuits to warm us up, we sit around a large workshop table topped with tins of beads and buttons, masses of different wooden shapes, metal clamps, lengths of string and clothes pegs. Flora tells us a bit about the technique we’d be learning which originated centuries ago in Japan. Vanessa shares some of the inspiration behind her love of shibori designs too.

vanessa arbuthnott and flora finding design inspiration to create indigo shibori tie dye patternsflora arbuthnott shibori indigo dye workshop

Flora uses Michel Garcia’s 1-2-3 indigo method which he developed from time spent travelling the world, studying ancient dye techniques and adapting to modern times.

Indigo dye shibori

What you need

A tall cylindrical container with a flat bottom made of plastic or stainless steel

1 part indigo (indigo fera tinctora). Flora recommends Wild Colours

2 parts lime (calcium hydroxide/hydrated lime/slaked lime). Try ebay or builder’s merchant for this.

3 parts reducing agent (fructose). Flora recommends Buy Whole Foods Online

Hot water

Suggested quantities:

25g indigo – weak vat

50g indigo – medium vat

100g indigo – strong vat

indigo shibori dye tutorial workshop creating a dye vat bathindigo shibori dye tutorial workshop creating a dye vat bathindigo shibori dyeindigo shibori dye tutorial workshop creating a dye vat bath

We watch as Flora sets up a new vat of indigo and see the indigo ‘flower’ created on the surface. According to Flora you can keep a vat going for ages – you just need to keep an eye on its balance and add more fructose or lime accordingly. Experienced dyers, she tells us, can tell the health of their vat immediately from the smell. Then Flora talks us through the simple process:

Achieving Shibori patterns and shapes

So that was creating a dye vat covered. Now we need to understand a little about how to achieve the patterns and shapes characteristic of shibori dyeing. Flora shows us how to concertina the fabric and then fold and clamp using wooden or plastic shapes to provide resistance to the dye as it makes its way through the layers of fabric. Margarine tubs are great for cutting out shapes to create patterns. The darkest folds would be the outer layers, Flora explains. While the faintest would be those in the middle, as the dye has further to penetrate. To achieve a line effect, Flora shows us how to use running stitch and pleating.

shibori indigo dye tutorial creating patterns with shapes and clamps

To create circles, you can tie bands or string around beads or buttons. Stitching in clumps can also create interesting patterns, as can simply tying sections with string. My head was slightly spinning with it all, trying to translate the sort of patterns I’ve seen and love into the techniques we’d been shown. So I decide it would be better just to get stuck in and have a go without worrying too much about the end result.

shibori indigo dye tutorial creating patterns with shapes and clampsshibori indigo dye tutorial creating patterns with shapes and clamps

Indigo dye shibori process:

1 pre soak the fibres in water

2 Dip in indigo vat

3 rinse in water to wash off indigo particles (you can reuse)

4 oxygenate in water or air

When the cloth has gone completely blue, repeat the process. You need to do 3 dips to achieve a colour that stays.

Soaking in water

Flora gives us all several pieces of fine organic cotton to practice on and I go for two totally different approaches with each of mine. The first one I concertina and then triangle fold before clamping on leaf shapes top and bottom. I pop that one in to pre soak in water before starting the second one. This time I go for much smaller, square folds with a few stitches added in on some corners. That one goes in to soak as I take the first one out and gently lower it into the indigo vat.

soak in water flora arbuthnott shibori indigo dye workshop

Into the indigo vat

Flora explains that it’s important to minimise the air bubbles created at the top of the vat as this can affect the oxygenation process. The weight of my clamp helps keep the fabric bundle underneath the surface of the dye and I attach it with a piece of string to a peg on the outside of the vat. It issn’t long before the vat is full of our weird and wonderful clamped and stitched bundles.

indigo shibori dyeindigo shibori dye tutorial flora and vanessa arbuthnottindigo shibori dye tutorial diy step by steps with flora arbuthnott- how to create a natural indigo dye bath and create shibori tie dye patterns using clamps, shapes, ties, bands and moreindigo shibori dye tutorial rinsing in water

A minute or so later, it’s time to gently remove from the vat, minimising the amount of drips we allow to flow back into the vat (again to minimise air bubbles in the vat) and then sluice around in a series of pans of increasingly clean water. (Flora would refresh these pans in rotation, pouring away the water and collecting the residual indigo to reuse.)

indigo shibori dye DIY

At this stage our fabric looks green not blue. After removing all the obvious dye, we allow the air to get to our still-clamped and tied bundles and watch as they magically turn indigo blue. At this stage the bundles are returned back into the vat and the process repeated a couple more times.

indigo shibori dye

Open up and see what you’ve got

After three dips, the bundles are ready to be rinsed and then carefully un-tied, un-clamped and any stitches picked ahead of the moment of truth – the fabric is opened up and the pattern revealed. We all gather round each time someone is ready to unwrap and are really quite excited to see the beautiful – and massively varied – patterns that start emerging.

indigo shibori dye tutorial opening up the linen after dipping in the indigo dye bathindigo shibori dye tutorial opening up the linen after dipping in the indigo dye bath

We break for lunch (you bring your own) and more cups of tea. But I decide to press on and get started with the two plain white linen tea towels and linen table runner I’ve brought with me. Flora also provides organic cotton scarves which you can buy for a very reasonable £5. I don’t have time to do this as well, but would definitely do this next time.

The effect I achieve by clamping with simple shapes top and bottom on my trial pieces was lovely, so I decided to do this again in different ways on my three linen pieces. I concertina fold all three first, then triangle fold and apply the shapes and several clamps.

Mine is the only one to break free of the peg and land at the bottom of the vat, but Flora is a calm, patient sort of person who really didn’t seem to mind fishing it out for me… twice!

flora arbuthnott indigo shibori dye workshop diy tutorialshibori indigo dye

A washing line of loveliness

Soon the washing line above our heads in the workshop is filling with beautiful indigo patterns. What’s lovely is how time slows down and conversation is easy. You’re creating alongside people you have never met before, sharing a simple, creative goal.

Vanessa shows us some of the amazing shibori pieces of fabric she’d picked up on a recent trip to China (below).

chinese indigo shibori fabricvanessa arbuthnott indigo shibori dye fabricsindigo dye shibori tutorial fabrics

They had inspired her latest Artisan collection, so it was fascinating to get a glimpse at the creative process behind it.

I was totally thrilled with how my pieces turned out. I have decorated my table with the runner and hung the tea towels up in my kitchen. Not that I’ll allow anyone to actually use them to dry up! Not yet anyway. All in all a hugely enjoyable and creative day that I would wholeheartedly recommend.

I’m thrilled with the linen tea towels and table runner I came home with. Now I’m thinking of trying my hand at dyeing some cushion covers for my garden chairs. That’s the thing about indigo dyeing. It’s kind of addictive and easier than you might think.

indigo shibori dye tutorial diy workshopindigo shibori dye tutorial diy workshop with natural dye expert flora arbuthnott, learning how to create a dye vat, how to make shibori tie dye patterns and master the natural indigo dye process #indigo #dye #shibori #workshops #tutorial #DIYindigo shibori dye tutorial workshop diy with flora arbuthnott - how to make a dye vat bath, how to create shibori tie dye patterns and how to dye using natural organic indigo dye on kitchen linens, tea towels, table runners, napkins and more #indigo #shibori #dye #tutorial

Natural Indigo Dye Kit from Indigowares

indigo shibori dye kit indigowares

This kit by Lisa of Indigowares makes life really easy. It is based on the same Michel Garcia’s 1-2-3 vat recipes that Flora taught us and is perfect for anyone starting out. It contains all you need to create a natural organic indigo vat, as well as a prepared cotton scarf, bands, sticks, pegs and beads for pattern making. Buy the kit here

INFORMATION


Flora Arbuthnott is listed in the From Britain with Love directory

Indigowares is listed in the From Britain with Love directory

Feeling inspired? Take a look at the Creative Workshops category in our Directory. You’ll find a variety of inspiring courses, from art and crafts to fashion and beauty, interiors, cooking and flower & gardening.

If you run a creative course that would interest our readers, please get in touch. Email us at editor@frombritainwithlove.com


A pin to share to Pinterest

If you enjoyed reading this Indigo dye shibori blog post, it would be great if you could share the love. Hover over the image below until the ‘Pin it’ button appears then share away to your Pinterest boards. Thank you! X

Love shibori indigo dye patterns. Click through to discover how easy it is to create your own beautiful designs using natural indigo with expert Flora Arbuthnott

In: FABRIC CRAFT, MAKE

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I'm so glad you're here. I'm Laura - national women's magazine editor and journalist now sharing my passion for sustainable and creative living here. Hope you find something to enjoy and inspire! X

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It’s not too late to sow sweet peas - so easy to It’s not too late to sow sweet peas - so easy to grow and blissfully fragrant in the summer months. 
They were my mum’s favourite flower, so growing them now feels like a precious connection. Especially when I pick some and arrange them in her beautiful old blue and gold jug just as she used to do with the sweet peas my dad grew for her every year.
There are some really handy tips for growing success from founder of The Real Flower Company Rosebie Morton over on the blog (link in bio). Rosebie has a whole farm dedicated to sweet peas near Chichester so she knows a thing or two about the subject!
Main thing I’ve picked up from her is to allow lots of depth for root growth at this stage and to make my own supportive wigwams from twiggy branches when the plants are really starting to go for it and need a bit of direction. This photo is making me yearn slightly.
I love this image of my friend Jo - we were trying I love this image of my friend Jo - we were trying out tiny living for a feature I was writing - this was taken on our way to indulge in a spot of forest bathing. To be totally honest, we were both a little sceptical beforehand. But we were only saying the other day how taken aback we both were by the amazing effect it had. I’m working on some new ideas around the subject - will keep you posted. X
I’m currently working on a redesign of the whole I’m currently working on a redesign of the whole site - which has meant lots of photo editing and reorganising so much content. What’s been lovely (despite the claw hand from so much keyboard work!) is revisiting work and becoming engrossed all over again. I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve been (re) loving - with links in the bio to the old site for now, but not for long…! X
This  image is from a feature about preserving garden roses. I’m going to give this a really good go this year, now I have a better idea what I’m doing. I know there’s nothing quite like a fragrant fresh rose in Summer but there’s a fragile beauty to dried and preserved flowers that I also love, don’t you?
Snowdrops 🌱🤍 . . . . . . #capturequiet #ins Snowdrops 🌱🤍 
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#capturequiet #instabritain #natureandnourish #thewildernesstonic #cornersofmyworld
Signed copies of Bex Partridge’s new book Flower Signed copies of Bex Partridge’s new book Flowers Forever to be won! My bio has the link to enter as well as to get a peek inside. Beautifully photographed by Laura Edwards, I really enjoyed escaping into the pages and making plans for my own garden - hope you do too! X
To the Moon and Back Hares KNITTING PATTERN by Cla To the Moon and Back Hares KNITTING PATTERN by Claire Garland aka @dotpebbles_knits has to be the perfect post Christmas craft project 😊 
If you fancy getting your needles out to make this adorable pair, the link to buy Claire’s pattern is in my bio. Happy knitting! X
Thank you so much to Sarah @floribundaroseflorists Thank you so much to Sarah @floribundaroseflorists for a wonderful wreath making workshop yesterday. Such a special and creative space to spend time. I loved making my wreath - I went for a mixture of greenery arranged quite randomly with red waxed fresh apples, dried hydrangea, dried flowers, poppy and nigella seed heads and a winter white velvet bow. 
There were so many wonderful ingredients to choose from we were really spoiled for choice. 
Sarah’s new studio is such a beautiful, creative space. Think fragrant botanical candles flickering everywhere, mulled wine and apple juice simmering on the stove and containers full of fragrant festive greenery, waxed fruit, dried flowers and oranges, pine cones, lichen covered branches and even tiny gold wax-dipped fresh crab apples. 
Thank you for being so patient with my lengthy ribbon choice deliberations Sarah - and for bagging up a second choice option (dusky pink) to take home! X.  #wreathmaking #wreath #wreathsofinstagram #sustainablewreaths #wreathdecor #christmaswreath #velvetribbon #christmasdecor #festiveflowers
I’ve loved Olga Prinku’s work for ages now - s I’ve loved Olga Prinku’s work for ages now - she came up with the genius idea of embroidering on tulle using nature as her thread - and the results are sublime - like this Autumn colours beauty from her latest book.
I’m delighted that Olga is offering a fantastic prize bundle to my readers. For a chance to win one of her beautiful new dried flower embroidery kits (in collaboration with @driedandfloral ) as well as a signed copy of her wonderful new book(published by @quadrillebooks , pop over to my blog (link in my bio). It’s easy to enter so why don’t you give yourself a chance of winning this very lovely prize? Good luck! 
#driedflowers #driedflowerembroidery #olgaprinku #embroideryhoop #flowerembroidery #competitiontime #signedbooks #embroideryart #flowersontulle #autumn #autumncolours #hoopart #allthingsbotanical #instacraft
This beautiful image is by Laura Pashby @circleofp This beautiful image is by Laura Pashby @circleofpines and is from her beautiful new book Little Stories of Your Life. 
It’s packed with inspiration and practical ideas to help you become a visual story teller. Because, as Laura says, it’s the little moments that make up the fabric of all of our lives - and those moments are worth capturing and sharing with others.
We have three signed copies of the book to give away - just click the link in my bio to find out more. There’s a peek inside and a lovely film by @xantheb to enjoy too! X 
#littlemoments #littlestoriesbook #alifeofwords #lostinwords #competition #booksarelife #mindfulphotography #bookstagram #booksmakemehappy #booksconnectus #igreads #whatareyoureading #signedbooks
Thanks to Lisa from @inthemaking_aprons who has sh Thanks to Lisa from @inthemaking_aprons who has shared her wonderfully creative ideas for visibly mending well-loved clothing in need of repair and a little TLC.
She had me at ‘sometimes I like to use giant sequins…’ 
Hope you like Lisa’s ideas as much as I do. The link to head over to my blog and get all her step by steps is in my bio x
Thank you @therealflowerco for these heavenly swee Thank you @therealflowerco for these heavenly sweet peas - the perfect way to celebrate #britishflowersweek 
I just wish I could share the blissful fragrance with you too 💕🌸
#locallygrownflowers #flowersofinstagram #supportlocal #britishflowersweek2021 #britishseasonalflowers #flowersfromthefarm #sweetpeas
This heavenly knitted lamb is by Claire Garland ak This heavenly knitted lamb is by Claire Garland aka @dotpebbles_knits and just one of the creative spring projects you might enjoy immersing yourself in right now. To discover other inspirational ideas and to get all the info you need - including this free pattern by Claire - click the link in my bio. Hope you find something that brings you a little seasonal joy x
Thanks to Erin at @floretflower for sending me a s Thanks to Erin at @floretflower for sending me a surprise signed copy of her dreamy new book Discovering Dahlias - and another signed copy to share with one of you. 
To enjoy a peek inside - and for a chance to win - click the link in my bio. 
The truly beautiful photographs (including this one) are all by Erin’s husband Chris Benzakein #discoveringdahlias #floretflowerfarm #dahliasofinstagram #flowersgivemepower #giveawayuk
Thanks to @sarahravenperchhill for sharing a beaut Thanks to @sarahravenperchhill for sharing a beautifully simple way to arrange snowdrops and other early spring flowers over on the blog (link is in my bio). I’ve already made my own simple flower grid using foraged twigs and it works brilliantly! 
As well as sharing her simple step by steps, there’s also a video tutorial where Sarah shares more inspiring ideas for creating with early spring flowers. The beautiful photographs are by @jonathanbuckleyphotography - hope you enjoy! X
Last call to enter our Pippa Greenwood Grow Your O Last call to enter our Pippa Greenwood Grow Your Own gift bundle competition!
My favourite #gardenersquestiontime panellist @pippa.greenwood offers a range of totally brilliant Grow Your Own gift bundles - which include garden-ready veg plants sent out at the right time for planting, email growing advice, tips and recipes from Pippa herself as well as signed copies of The Gardener’s Year. It’s the perfect gift for anyone interested in growing their own fresh produce - and comes with the best expert advice!
We have two Pippa Greenwood GYO gift bundles to be won - the link to enter the competition, and to find out more is in my bio - Good luck!
Last call for anyone who’d like to enter our Cla Last call for anyone who’d like to enter our Claire Garland Christmas Mouse knitting pattern competition. The link to enter is the top one in my bio. Good luck!
If you’re finding the world a somewhat shouty an If you’re finding the world a somewhat shouty and overwhelming place right now, you might like to get behind Sarah Corbett @craftivists new project - she’s crowdfunding to create the final part of her Craftivism trilogy: the Craftivist Collective Handbook. It will be a beautiful hardback with 20 gentle protest Craftivist projects and tools to help readers become positive and effective change makers. Because slow and gentle can be more effective in the long run than fast and loud. I am 100% behind Sarah’s project and have no doubt that those of us in the crafty, creative community have plenty to contribute when it comes to making a better, fairer world. 
Stitching a powerful message can be  more effective than shouting it at someone who’s not listening to you. If you’d like to get involved or find out more, follow the top link in my bio.
Thanks to @botanical_tales for sharing beautiful d Thanks to @botanical_tales for sharing beautiful dried flower wreath ideas over on the blog - link in bio. I love this dried mini wreath as natural gift wrapping decoration (you can buy ready-made too) - all the links are in the post.
Thanks too to Kirsten @henthorn_farm_flowers for sharing her step by steps for creating a stunning giant foraged dried flower wreath as well as her beautiful simple wreath in silvery winter whites. 
I’m increasingly obsessed with the idea of growing my own flowers for drying and creating lovely things with them. Watch this space for more dried flower inspiration coming soon... X
One of the joyful things about this time of year f One of the joyful things about this time of year for me is making plans for next spring and summer in my flower cutting garden. After two years of growing cut flowers, I’m ready for some fresh ideas and to raise my game a little more. I would like to fill some gaps in shape and colour and to extend the flowering season in particular. I’d also like to start drying and preserving my flowers... so I am thrilled that Kirsten of @henthorn_farm_flowers has shared a beautiful glimpse into her seasonal and sustainable flowery world as well as lots of fantastic expert tips and ideas over on the blog - the link is in my bio. I hope you find some inspiration too. Kirsten lives in a very beautiful part of the world - the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. It’s an area very close to my heart as I grew up not far away. Loved spending a little virtual time there again, thanks to Kirsten - and I am yearning to go back in person one day soon and breathe it all in again.
To be honest, I’m still clinging on to the last To be honest, I’m still clinging on to the last moments of Summer. I do always eventually embrace Autumn but, this year in particular, I’m wanting to hold on for as long as possible to the quiet bliss of the last few months. 
I do really worry about what lies ahead for us all, but spending time outdoors, connecting, really up close, to what’s going on in the garden definitely helps. I still have roses, sweet peas, snapdragons, zinnias, asters and LOTS of dahlias blooming so there are always jars and jugs of flowers on every available surface. Rose geranium leaves have been a revelation for adding a fragrant green frilliness - and now I’m full of love for abelia. 
This beautiful photo is by @gandgorgeousflowers and captures the between-seasons beauty in the flower garden right now. I am inspired to create something similar as I have many of the same colours. 
I do realise that it’s silly (and utterly pointless 😂) to resist Autumn as it’s actually one of the most beautiful times of year. As soon as the leaves really turn, and everywhere starts to smell like Autumn, I’m sure I’ll be fully on board. 
With that in mind, I’ve shared lots of inspiring Autumn Flowers ideas over on the blog (link in my bio) from some of my favourite flower creatives including @gandgorgeousflowers @simplybyarrangement @therealflowerco @wildbunchflowers @floribundaroseflorists @thesussexflowerschool @electricdaisyflowerfarm 

Hope you enjoy - and find a little bit of creative inspiration too. X

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