How to put fabrics together!

One question I get asked a lot is how to put fabrics together, especially for patchwork.

I always suggest that you start with your 'showstopper', the fabric you know you just have to use - it helps if it has more than 3 colours in it, preferably more, but you must love it!

I have had my eye on this beautiful fabric from Lewis and Irene since it arrived a few weeks ago, I love the detail and the colours but I knew that I would want to put it together with some more vibrant colours to lift the grey tones, this is Butterfly Bright after all!

So, how many colours do you think are in this print, you might guess at a glance perhaps 5 or maybe 6.

In actual fact there are 14 individual colours - and how do you know this? By looking at the selvedge..

Fabrics have dots of colour (or sometimes shapes, such as the butterflies on this print) repeated along the selvedge, these show an equal representation of each of the colours used in the print. It makes it easier to identify the colours which may only have a tiny impact on the fabric but are there, even in the smallest detail.

 This is the perfect tool for colour matching fabrics from different quilting collections to use in a project. Always try to keep selvedges attached to a fabric until you actually use them, this not only protects the fabric, it helps you identify the warp and weft and of course gives you the colour spots.

I soon got to work identifying other fabrics from my shop to put together with this glorious piece. I used another Lewis and Irene fabric with the cowslips on to match with the grey but brought in some vibrant turquoise and lime fabrics too.

What do you think? I like using a mixture of geometric and natural prints and also mixing pattern size for interest. I just need a project to put them into now...

Shall we try another one

How many colours do you think are in this print...

An amazing 16 colours

here is the selvedge with the more traditional circles of colour.

There are so many options with this fabric you could pick out the pinks, the yellows, oranges or the blues and greens.

I went with orange, mint and lime green as I try to break out of my pink and blue/green habit!

I'm not totally convinced with this combination yet so I might play with it in the next few days and see what else I can come up with. When I am happy with my mini collections I will add them as bundles to the webshop to save you some time!

What colours do you love to put together?

Enjoy!

Ali

Shop for Lewis and Irene Fabrics here

If you like my choice of fabric and would like to get an amazing delivery each month you might be interested in the Butterfly Bright Monthly Fabric Subscription Service.

Stuart Hillard book signing!

We have been chosen to host an event with BBC2's Great British Sewing Bee finalist Stuart Hillard.

Sherborne's leading haberdashery and making shop, Butterfly Bright, has been chosen from hundreds of applicants to host a visit from Stuart Hillard - one of the most popular semi-finalists from BBC2's Great British Sewing Bee 2013. Stuart's appearance coincides with the launch of his new book 'Sew Fabulous', signed copies of which will be available for those lucky enough to come along to Butterfly Bright in Digby Road between 3.30pm - 5.00pm on Friday 3rd October.

"We are delighted that Stuart is coming to Butterfly Bright as part of his national book tour" says Founder Alison Nurton, "Many of our customers have thoroughly enjoyed the Great British Sewing Bee programmes and we have seen a huge resurgence in the popularity of sewing and other creative crafts. In the 3 and a half years since opening we have taught in excess of 500 people new skills with our extensive range of workshops including patchwork, crochet, knitting, sewing, embroidery and needle felting."

Before he appeared on BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, Stuart Hillard had sewn and quilted professionally for over 15 years.  He writes, teaches and hosts quilting retreats and workshops and designs and creates patterns for quilts, wall hangings, bags and home décor projects.  On 3rd October he will present a short sewing demonstration as well as talk about his book which explains how to decorate and embellish every room in the house - even the garden!  'Sew Fabulous' features over 40 fun and fabulous patterns for everything from covered headboards, bolster cushions, tablecloths, napkins, aprons, pretty coat hangers and bunting.

Everyone who loves sewing, or who would like to find out more about learning to sew, is invited to come along to Stuart's demonstration and book signing - alongside which Butterfly Bright is staging a workshop exhibition, discounts on Coats' fabrics (for which Stuart is an ambassador) and offers on workshops booked on the day.

Due to the anticipated popularity of this event, numbers will be limited and guests are invited to book their FREE ticket in advance.

You can also PRE ORDER your copy of Stuart's book on our website - every pre-ordered copy will be signed by Stuart and will include a £5 voucher valid until 24 Dec 2014 on any purchase of £50 or more at Butterfly Bright.

A girl's dress inspired by The Great British Sewing Bee!

I am absolutely hooked on The Great British Sewing Bee!

(BBC 2  on Tuesday evening at 8pm)

Last night the competitors had to make a child's dress with a 'smocked' top.

I have always wanted to try this as I have two girls of my own and I would love to make more clothes for them. Luckily this dress is made using the modern machine sewn technique, with shirring elastic in the bobbin, rather than hand sewing the smocking (which let's face it a working mum does not have time for!)

I rushed in early to work this morning and decided to give it a go. As I was working with very little technical information (ie no pattern!) I thought I would make a doll sized dress as a practice,I know it will get well used as the girls both love dressing their dolls!

I decided on pink gingham fabric, the girls both love pink and I thought the lines on the print would help to guide my lines of shirring.

I joined the  two pieces of fabric with my first French Seam which worked a treat! The next job was to start the lines of shirring, I loaded shirring elastic onto the bobbin, being careful not to wind it too tightly.

I did try a couple of sample pieces first and I was glad I did as I had to play around with the settings a bit before committing to the main article, I set the stitch length to the longest available option which helped too. The fabric does gather more the more lines you add so don't give up if you think it is not working after the first couple of lines. 

Using the gingham pattern I was able to keep the lines relatively straight.

A good tip is that the fabric needs to go under the foot as flat as possible, so try to hold the fabric either side of the foot to ensure it does not pucker as it feeds through the needle.

Next I had to hide all those straggly bits with a second French Seam,

and then hem the top and bottom of the dress. By this time I had to open the shop and so I cheated a bit with the straps and used ribbon (as this is only for a doll I thought this would be OK!).

I added some white buttons to give it a nice finishing touch and there we have it!

I am sure with a bit more practice I will get better but I really enjoyed my first attempt!

If you want to give something like this a go why not look at our list of Sewing Workshops or join us at our next Sherborne Sewing Bee!

Happy Sewing!

Ali x