Textured wovens + garment sewing—a hot topic at Spring Quilt Market

Modern garments featuring textured wovens from
Diamond Textiles.  Photo credit: The Sewing Workshop

Plenty of excitement and enthusiasm for sewing and quilting with textured wovens and yarn-dyed cottons emerged from the Diamond Textiles booth at Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City last weekend!

I assisted in the Diamond Textiles booth where Rohni Sandu, owner and President of Diamond Textiles, and her staff entertained a steady stream of quilt shop and fabric shop owners right up to the Market's closing bell! In addition to ordering yarn-dyed cottons, ikats and textured wovens to meet their shop’s demand for quilting, applique, stitching, embroidery, wool and needle punch projects and classes, the store owners were interested in fabrics for garment sewing!

Quilting cottons are doing
dual duty!

Diamond Textiles was right on trend sponsoring a pre-market educational Schoolhouse session with Linda Lee, a nationally known sewing instructor, author, pattern designer and owner of The Sewing Workshop.

Garment sewing is back and on the rise. The significant response to and attendance at the Schoolhouse session was evidence of this! Shop owners were looking for ideas, inspiration, tips and resources for classes and sewing projects and they wanted quilting fabrics that were also appropriate for garment sewing.  

MixIt top and Six Sense skirt.
Photo credit: The Sewing Workshop

The schoolhouse presentation focused on choosing fabrics and textured wovens for various garment types. Linda's trunk show showcased garments using patterns from The Sewing Workshop—tops, dresses, skirts, pants and jackets—and fabrics from Diamond Textiles—yarn-dyed solids, textured wovens, pintuck cottons and embossed cotton fabrics.

The array of garments reflected both classic and current styles and included fun details such as visible “big stitching” and improv piecing—techniques quite familiar to quilters. Linda discussed fabric and garment pattern pairings for today’s sewers and quilters and how fabrics found in quilts shops are not exclusive to just one discipline. 

Shown left is an ensemble using Diamond Textiles embossed cottons. The top is the MixIt Tee paired with the Six Sense wrap skirt with an assymetrical pocket.

Below are photos of the garment samples that found their way back to the Diamond Textiles booth after the schoolhouse session. 

The Cottage Shirt is shown in a yarn-dyed solid fabric from the Diamond Textiles Manchester collection. 

Cottage Shirt featuring a Manchester yarn-dyed solid.

Visible "big stitch" hand stitching accents a wide hem and the button holes up the front.

Hand stitching details on the Cottage Shirt.

The Six Sense asymmetrical skirt with a pocket is made with Diamond Textiles unique cotton embossed fabric. Also in a cotton embossed, is the MixIt top. The complementary color scheme of this ensemble is quite eye-catching.

This graphic, black-and-white top is the Hugo Top made with PT 3218, from the Diamond Textiles pintuck line. You can't have too many white shirts in your wardrobe, in my opinion!

Hugo Top with Pintuck cotton.

The Picasso Pants is a new pattern from The Sewing Workshop. It has the lantern style pant legs with front, side and back panels. This version was made with a popular textured woven from the Nikko Geo collection. Don't you love the contrast top stitching detail??

The Picasso pants made with Nikko Geo.

One of my favorite Sewing Workshop patterns is the Siena and Cortona which offers two styles of button down tops. Here is the Cortona top made with a textured woven (Nikko 3775) from one of the Nikko collections.

Cortona Top in Nikko 3775 textured yarn-dyed woven.

And this is my Siena Shirt using Tweed Thicket  a new yarn-dyed woven from Diamond Textiles (collar, sides, sleeves and back) and an Australian aboriginal print from M&S Textiles for the front panels.

Siena Shirt with Tweed Thicket.

I also got to wear my new Diamond Textiles patchwork jacket that was completed just in time for Market (nothing like a deadline, right?). It uses a variety of textured wovens from several Diamond Textiles collections. I love to mix and match the colors and textures from this company's fabric lines. This jacket is one of my #MakeNine projects.

Patchwork Jacket showcasing a variety of textured wovens from Diamond Textiles.

Amid the quilts hanging in the Diamond Textiles booth were additional garments from patterns by Tina Givens, Wiksten and In the Folds. 

Diamond Textiles booth at Spring Market featured yarn-dyed textured wovens,
ikats and embossed cottons in quilts and garments.

Diamond Textiles ikats and textured wovens are fabulous for handbags, totes, home decor items and other accessories.

Box Bottom Slide Clasp Purse from Reets Rags to Stitches.

Diamond Textiles booth at Spring Quilt Market.

So next time you visit your local quilt shop, don't stop at using those beautiful fabrics for only quilts. Open up the possibilities to yarn-dyed wovens, textures cottons, embossed cotton and ikats for tops, skirts, jackets, pants and other garments.

Diamond Textiles has an extensive collection of weights, colors, textures, and solid fabrics in 44"/45" and wider. They pair perfectly with sewing patterns from The Sewing Workshop. Ask your local quilt shop for both!

Wiksten Top in Tweed Thicket

Looking for a quick make? The Wiksten Shift Dress + Top is a great choice.

From opening the envelope to hand stitching the bottom hem, I sewed it in an afternoon—including tracing my pattern size, making a muslin, and a mod to the neck.

I already had my fabric pre-washed: 2-1/2 yards of Tweed Thicket, a yarn-dyed cotton from Diamond Textiles. 

Pocket placement on my Wiksten Top.

There are minimal pattern pieces for this top: front, back, facings and a pocket. It would be an excellent pattern for embellishments, surface design or patchwork if you enjoy any of these processes.

Wiksten Top: front and back views

I opted for a single pocket and decided to make a facing. This Australian Aboriginal print from M&S Textiles Australia was used for the lining/facing.

Pocket facing. Fabric from M&S Textiles Australia. 

Modifications and Options

• My Wiksten Top has a slightly smaller neck opening (a personal style preference). I re-drafted the neck facings.
• This pattern includes a short and long dress. You could modify the length of the top or use the short dress version to make a tunic.
• I'm interested in adding the side slits (see instructions for the dress) on a top. It would be a cute detail.
• The pattern instructions specify machine sewn sleeve and bottom hems. I enjoy hand sewing when time permits.
• I'm planning to use this pattern for an improv patchwork version. I have a length of fabric that's not enough to yield the full garment, but could be "stretched" if mixed with other fabrics.

Front pocket on my Wiksten Top.

The Wiksten Top is another add to Me Made May and a handmade wardrobe.

Sewing inspiration from Topstitch Studio

It often feels like there are too many project potentials, inspiration and WIPs [works-in-progress] filling my world... and my studio. "The point is?" you ask.... 

squirrel...

Recent inspirational finds at Topstitch Studio and Lounge (from left): Selvedge magazine,
the Collins Top pattern from In the Folds, and Frankie magazine

I recently re-fueled my inspiration with these goodies I found at Topstitch Studio and Lounge at the Ponce City Market in Atlanta. I was familiar with Selvedge magazine, but the Australian publication, Frankie, and patterns from In the Folds were new to me. 

The diagonal seams and the potential for using multiple fabrics (see the line drawing below) led me to the purchase of the Collins Top pattern. It's also designed for wovens, rather than the usual knit fabric (but I'm sure it could be adapted to a knit if one chose).

Pattern back of the Collins Top showing line drawing.

Topstitch is located on the second floor of the Ponce City Market complex. The Ponce Market is housed in a wonderfully adaptive makeover of a former Sears, Roebuck & Co. building on the city's south side. Not unlike the remake of the Sears building in Memphis.

Ponce City Market, Atlanta, GA.

The proprietor of Topstitch, Leigh Metcalf, makes it a point to stock garment and project patterns from "indie" [independent] pattern designers. The store's pattern wall contains printed patterns from companies such as Merchant and Mills, Grainline Studio, Deer and Doe, True Bias, and Untitled Thoughts (which has THE coolest recycled packaging—a fabric drawstring bag). I also met the designer behind the Untitled Thoughts brand, Brittani Bumb, who designs and creates patterns and cranks out beautiful garments at the blink of an eye (follow her at @untitledthoughts on Instagram).

On a side note, here is a recent "finish" from my garment WIP pile. A long sleeve knit top made from Vintage Florets Trinkets knit from Art Gallery Fabrics. I love its warm red color.

Long sleeve knit top. Knit fabric: KF-1402 from AGF.

The pattern I used for this top is one drawn from an existing top. I've made it several times and it gets easier and quicker with every make.

My latest long sleeve knit top.

So, can one have too much inspiration?   

squirrel... 

OK, what's next on the pile...

Return to sewing with a Ghastlie vengeance

In my travels, I'm thrilled to hear more and more interest in apparel sewing is popping up in quilt shops and independent sewing centers. Have you caught the bug?

"A Ghastlie Craft" by Alexander Henry Fabrics
previewed at Spring Quilt Market 2018.

If you're a quilter, you already have many of the skills needed to sew garments for yourself or family members. See this post where I used a form of "crazy patch"—a common quilting technique—for a knit pull-over. Here is another jacket I'm working on that incorporates quilting patchwork.

Patchwork on a jacket back. Fabrics are cotton yarn-dyed from Diamond Textiles.

Garment sewing featured at recent Quilt Market
Amy Barickman, from Indygo Junction, was at the Diamond Textiles booth at the recent Spring Quilt Market. Here is Amy, talking about garments made with Diamond Textiles' fabrics using her patterns. Simple silhouettes... casual wear and stylish... and easy to make.

You're not alone!
So, who's ready to make garments? When I was a guest speaker at the Madison Station Quilt Guild in April, I asked, "are there any garment sewers in the audience?" There were 5-7 members that raised their hands

Ask the members of your quilt guild. There are likely friends you already know that are making garments... as well as quilts.

"A Ghastlie Casting" from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Take your quilt-making skills to another level. Expand upon them to add beautiful "patchwork" to your wardrobe, too.

"A Ghastlie Notion"  from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Wield your shears! Brandish your threads and sewing notions! Extol your creative passion with fabric and stitch and do it all: quilting, sewing and garment making. Contact YLQS [your local quilt shop] and ask about classes and garment sewing supplies.

And wouldn't it be fun to incorporate a Ghasltie character on the back/front/sleeve of a garment???