I made this skirt and top back in the 1970's when I was a biology major at U.C. Irvine. I was less an anomaly for sewing my own clothes (lots of girls did back then) than for being a biology major. (That was considered a little quirky.)
Patchwork has languished in fashion since the hippie chick styles of the seventies, but I see signs of a resurgence. What else is "color-blocking" but Mondrian Patchwork?
This new HotPatterns Skirt caught my eye, but more importantly, gave me lots of ideas.
What if I took any center paneled design and inserted a patchwork panel?
for instance, a panel of silk patchwork in view D McCall's 6566, below:
This idea would work in almost any multi-seamed design. My proclivity for saving small pretty scraps is finally paying off! (Mr. Hunting Creek sighs. He claims that I have a box in my sewing room labeled, "Scraps Too Small To Be Saved")
Are you planning a garment featuring Patchwork or color-blocking? (Do you save small scraps too small to be saved?
4 comments:
When I made actual patchworks, I saved LUDICROUSLY small pieces of fabric. I doubt I ever used more than one or two... but just the thought of throwing away a perfectly good print... the horror!
Then when I switched to garment sewing, I held on to this habit for several years... until I realized I had a crazy trash bag thing going in the studio, filled with totally useless pieces of apparel fabric. Now I"m pretty ruthless (for me) and toss fairly large scraps into the garbage bin willy-nilly.
It's still painful. But I do it.
Unfortunately, now that I'm doing some patchworking again... I fear I'm going to fall off the wagon. But I never wear patchwork CLOTHES, so that part isn't a risk. (This is probably due to the trauma of wearing printed "patchwork" Holly Hobby shorts for two summers in a row in the early 70's... which admittedly, I was 7 but still... there's just no excuse.)
I do save "scraps too small to be saved". Sometimes use up the end of a bobbin sewing them together at random to make larger patchwork slabs that get put into another bin called "pieced fabric" that I pretend I'm going to do something awesomely creative with, someday.
What is old is new again. I love color blocking. Did it a few years ago. It's interesting using prints, but not easy to do successfully.
Audrey of Sew Tawdry did a colorblocked top in a similar concept recently. Colorblocking is fun, but now that I've made my one piece I'm afraid to make more because it will instantly go out of style!
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