Countryside Glamour - What to wear this Autumn Winter

It's October tomorrow... How on earth did that happen? It feels like just last week I was swanning around in floral summer dresses and sandals. I think it must be true as you get older time truly does fly by. And with the 1st of October is the arrival of Autumn/ Winter one of my favourite seasons. Mostly because it's my birthday month (yes month I am one of those people) and because I love this in between time of year almost as much as I like twixmas That just before it turns into tights weather and just after the last bit of September sunshine.

I can't wait to start getting snuggly and layering my dresses with cosy knits and I'm super excited to be working with the wonderful brand Traffic People again to share some pieces from their new Autumn Winter collection. Perfect if you're not sure what to wear in the coming months I've selected some of my favourite picks from their new collection and taken them to the Yorkshire countryside! Because where else would you take a beautiful printed dress right? You might remember my trip to windy Devon earlier this year with their beautiful Spring collection.

Leopard print has become a second skin and new neutral in my opinion. It's a timeless print that has been refreshed in glorious green here. I adore the shape of this dress, it's so flattering and brings all the glamour. 

I was instantly drawn to the rusty colour of this dress, the perfect autumnal shade and a polka dot print. Scroll down to see the other pieces I chose for our weekend trip to the countryside. 

I've tagged the items I'm wearing in the images below if you'd like to update your Autumn/ Winter wardrobes with a piece that will last through the trends.

Blue Pinstriped Jumpsuit  / Rust polka dot maxi / Floral Jumpsuit / Boho Green Leopard Print Dress

This post is sponsored by Traffic People, a huge thank you for such beautiful pieces to treasure [ All garments have been gifted as part of the partnership].

How To Create A Seamless Pattern Repeat Workshop

Last month I was invited to host a repeat pattern design workshop with Spoonflower at the gorgeous fabric store Sew Over It in London founded by the lovely Lisa Comfort.

I teach regular workshops and love to share my skills to inspire more creativity. I always start my print design process with a drawing and from there turn my drawings into repeat patterns to create a finished surface pattern design. I was joined by eight lovely ladies who were keen to learn a bit more about pattern design, drawing and repeat pattern making.

Almost everyone will have owned a printed garment, piece of fabric, scarf among others in their lifetimes as it’s one of the oldest and more traditional fabric printing techniques so it was great to be able to show the group the differences in the types of patterns designs across the Sew Over It fabric collections in store. There were simpler block pattern repeats where shapes are repeated in a regimented fashion as well as more organic all over pattern designs. The focus of today’s class was the latter an all over print design and how to create one from scratch.

      

I started by demonstrating the repeat pattern making technique using some very simple drawings using textured pencils, pens and crayons to create interesting marks onto paper. They were all surprised at how simple the technique actually is and so I set them off with the challenge to create their own collection of repeat pattern designs by the end of the class.

We had a variety of art materials to work with from pencils and pens to watercolours and crayons so the breadth of mark making was lovely. The class were inspired by their favourite things, nature and the Spoonflower catalogue. It was wonderful to see their designs take shape as they grew in confidence throughout the session. Lisa Comfort herself even popped in to say hi and see how everyone was getting on.

It was so lovely to meet such a great group of ladies and be able to inspire and encourage their creativity. They all left with a brightly coloured bundle of pattern designs that they were ready to scan and upload to Spoonflower to turn into future projects. I can’t wait to see what they do with them!

To find out more about creating print designs for fabric check out my book How To Print Fabric for simple tips and techniques to start printmaking at home.

Zeena X

PS. You can make my jumpsuit, find the fabric over on Spoonflower here and the free in the folds pattern here.