shawls from India, of around 1800. Textured.
This design, derived from an image of a beautiful vintage batik stamp, which I ordered and which was lost by the post office (well, they said they delivered it onto the garbage can!), is a memorial design for that 'tjap'. The pattern is inspired by the Kashmir shawls from India which were popular in Empire France (especially with Josephine), and in Regency England. Our word cashmere comes from them. At a time when the normal dress was a flimsy transparent muslin 'empire' dress, those warm Kashmir shawls, and their European merino wool imitations, must have been very welcome, for their color as well as their warmth. Josephine loved them so much, and had so many, that she had dresses made of 7 of them (found in an inventory from1814). There is a painting of her in one. I found out about them doing research for the costume history (fashion history) class I was taking last semester. And so I thought, naturally, that I wanted to make some fabric designs which could be used to re-create them, for Regency/Jane Austen events costuming, and just for fun. Of course our fabrics are not woven wool or cashmere or silk, but I think that Spoonflower's organic cotton sateen, and organic cotton knit will make good substitutes, one light and soft like the silk, and one warm and draping well, like the cashmere/wool.. I have made the background texture pattern to add richness and depth to the color, more like the originals. This is just the first incarnation, an overall pattern with a textured background. I will make the version with this pattern as a wide border contrasting with a textured ground. I will also do a sideways version of this, which will work on the fabric like the border prints will. Swatch ordered May 31, 2014 - available soon. The first shawl dress pattern! With a textured background. June 10 2014 - now available!