Mixed-Up Halloween
- fabman556
- Oct 12, 2017
- 2 min read
Combining Prints is FUN!
My favorite thing to sew is shirts, and the shirts I love to sew are usually, well...a bit like art-to-wear. Occasionally I'll make a more traditional shirt, but usually I'm aiming at something a little more interesting. My inspiration most often comes from designer ready-to-wear shirts; I'll comb through Pinterest looking for ideas, even checking out runway shows (knowing those often far-out-looking garments are not usually intended as street wear) and checking out my favorite websites. https://www.pinterest.com/dancox556/shirting-the-issue/
One of my usual inspiration sources is Desigual, which is based in Barcelona, Spain. Their signature look includes mixed fabrics and graffiti-like embellishments. I have interpreted several of their designs over the past few years and it's always fun to put together several prints in one garment. I also like working at these price-points...that just amplifies the savings!
Basic Guidelines for Mixing Prints
Mixing prints is not difficult once you understand some basic guidelines. If you ask novice quilters to identify the most challenging aspect of creating a quilt, most would say that it's selecting the fabrics that work best together. Variety is key; each fabric must be different from the others in scale, color and pattern, yet have some design elements in common to tie everything together. Looking at the example,
the prints are unified by color palette, yet there is variety with tonals, dark grounds and light grounds. The patterns include floral, stripes, dots and graphics, in large, medium and small scales. Often, designers of fabric collections will create the perfect balance within a collection, making choosing fabrics easier.
I NEED a New Halloween Shirt
With last year's relocation to South Carolina, we purged a lot of things we no longer needed, including clothing. I donated a lot of shirts I could no longer wear because there was now more of me than shirt. (Little did I know that a year later, and 30 pounds lighter, I would have been able to wear them!) The inspiration search for this shirt led me back to Desigual, and I found this shirt which uses three different fabrics.
With that shirt in mind, I chose three co-ordinating fabrics from the Patrick Lose "Happy Halloween" collection.
I'll be working at the Patrick Lose Fabrics booth at the upcoming International Quilt Market in Houston, which is Halloween weekend...and this shirt will be perfect to promote the line.
With a few modifications to the inspiration shirt, my newest holiday shirt is ready to go for Quilt Market!
Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming!
DTFM
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