01
02
04
05
03
03 The Natural collection
was inspired by the
landscape of the Blue
Mountains.
STUDIO
Cloth
FABRIC
01 Designer Julie Paterson,
founder of independent
company Cloth Fabric.
02 L–R: Twig of Conifer,
Ironbark and Wollemi
Pine, all in charcoal;
Ironbark in rust; and Big
Stripe in beige.
04 Early artwork for Twig
of Conifer, which was
inspired by twigs and
conifers in the designer’s
garden.
05 Early artwork for the
design Wollemi Pine.
• FA BR IC DE SIGN •
The handprinted fabric designs of
English-born Julie Paterson, founder of
Cloth Fabric, are inspired by nature, in
particular the Australian landscape.
Words by Deborah Niski
J
ulie Paterson, artist, designer
and founder of the independent
company Cloth Fabric, relishes
her work. “For me it’s the
process,” she laughs. “It’s the journey,
the ‘being in it,’ that I love the most.”
English-born Julie arrived in Australia
twenty-five years ago with a textile design
degree and £200 in her pocket. “I thought,
‘Okay, I’ll take a portfolio of designs and
I’ll [go] over for a year and see how I go,’”
she says. “Then I started selling my designs
straight away to … Sheridan and a number
of other industry companies.”
After identifying a gap in the market,
Julie set up shop consulting and freelancing
in textiles. While the business was a success,
Julie was selling European-style designs
to manufacturers who were then printing
them offshore. There was nothing uniquely
Australian about them. Not wanting to
perpetuate the idea that “overseas is better
than Australian,” Julie decided to make a
change. With a partner, she began painting
and handprinting fabrics, inspired by her
response to Australia and its landscape.
Now, all Cloth Fabric’s work is
manufactured locally. Julie works with
skilled craftspeople, using natural fabrics
and low-fi screen printing methods. This has
created a business that is highly sustainable
and environmentally responsible, and to
this day her fabrics are printed by hand on
a thirty-metre-long table in a tin shed. Julie
uses high-quality upholstery grade hemp and
linen, which differentiates her work from
other hand-printed fabrics that have a much
lighter weight.
By contrast, Julie’s retail space is located
in busy inner Sydney. The space was once
a prestige car showroom; the Ferraris
have been replaced by a lovely old sewing
machine, a vast range of fabrics, lampshades
and cushions and a small workroom where
piece goods are made in-house. Julie also
licenses her designs for wallpapers, rugs
and bed linen. While all this is a joy to her,
what she enjoys the most is working with
designers and architects on projects. “It’s
my first love and always has been.”
Julie remains continuously inspired
by her adopted homeland. She’s never
without a notebook, in which she writes
and sketches her thoughts. “My studio is in
the Blue Mountains. I go up there and offload all the stuff in my notebooks. I’ll look
through them and notice a recurring theme,
which will then become a lino print or a
series of paintings,” she explains. “If that
has resonance then I’ll commit to doing
a design.”
Julie’s new collection, Natural, was
directly inspired by the Wollemi pine and
grey ironbark trees, and the bark, stone
and clay of her Blue Mountains garden and
surrounds. She has also collaborated with a
local potter to create a range of clay pieces
that work closely with the furnishing fabrics
to create a unique interpretation of the
local landscape.
clothfabric.com
HOUSES • ISSUE 95 071