I have a question for you, how often have you gone shopping for dressmaking fabric, fallen head over heels in love with a fabric, taken it home, washed it, stitched it up, twirled a bit in it… and then… something about it just doesn’t quite feel right and it ends up hanging in the wardrobe for months?
This is a question that a member on ThreadySetGo posted in the Diary forum brought up recently and has actually been something I’ve been thinking about loads lately.
When you’re new to sewing, and actually probably for quite some time after, you are drawn to so many different fabrics. Big, bold, bright prints in all the colours of the rainbow. It’s like art that you can wear instead of hanging it on your walls. It’s exciting, enticing and opens up a whole world of possibilities to you.
I actually think it’s an important step for us all to take. It helps you over time learn about different dressmaking fabrics, their properties, gives you the opportunity to learn different sewing techniques… it’s all part of a journey!
But when you start realising that the garments you have sewn up, although they might be perfectly well sewn and fit you really well, just don’t quite feel right when you put them on is when you might start thinking about what types, colours and prints of fabrics you actually prefer to wear.
Because although I can appreciate a bright, bold piece of artwork hanging on the walls of my home, or a rainbow patchwork quilt to snuggle up in on a cold night… it doesn’t mean that they are right for me to actually wear.
Take this dress for example. A gorgeous Friday Pattern Company Hughes dress that took three toiles to get those princess seams across my bust right. It’s beautifully sewn, that neckline is gorgeous and the fabric is stunning… it’s actually one I had a hand in designing for the SewHayleyJane subscription boxes of past.
But when I put it on… I just don’t feel right in it!
Now… colour analysis is (and has been) a huge topic of discussion and one that regularly comes up in our online sewing socials. I definitely think there is something to be said for particular colours and shades suiting you more, that make you feel good when you put them on. On the other hand I’m a firm believer in if you love something, you should wear it and to hell with whether or not it suits your seasonal palette! It’s total personal preference.
But if you find that the dressmaking fabrics you are choosing to buy are different from the ones you are choosing to wear, and those fabrics are either staying folded up on the shelf or hanging in your wardrobe after lovingly turning them into a garment, it might be time to start thinking a little more about what you actually enjoy wearing.
A quick moment to say there could be any number of reasons why a garment you’ve sewn doesn’t get worn. It could be that it was the wrong type of fabric for the garment, that the fit is off or that the style of garment doesn’t feel great on you (I’m looking at you pencil dresses, interestingly this is one that although I was able to turn it into a style I loved… I never wear it!). But I am specifically talking about fabric colours and prints today.
I’ve been sewing as a dressmaker for over 10 years and I have to admit that this is really only something that I have learnt about myself in the last couple of years. I’ve never had a colour analysis done, but there are definitely colours I’ve discovered I am more drawn to and feel better wearing than others.
It turns out that I am not a bold, bright colour girlie! And oh my goodness the amount of things I have sewn in bright colours and bold prints. But when I wear them I just feel… off! I love seeing people embracing all the colours of the rainbow and lots of print but, it turns out I feel amazing in a more muted colour palette.
If I had to make a guess, I reckon I’d be somewhere in the “spring” colour spectrum as I love wearing dusky pinks, chambray blues and minty greens – almost a more grown up range of pastels with some white and black thrown in as well. Of course there is plenty of room for other colours, but with careful consideration as to how I wear them. I love a rusty/ochre colour but would wear that as a skirt or trousers with a blue or green top *chefs kiss*.
As for prints… I have worked with a lot of them over the last 10 years, having great fun selecting them for the subscription boxes and have a huge appreciation for them. But over the last year or two, I’ve learnt a lot more about the type of prints I enjoy wearing. Sadly they don’t seem to fall into a neat little category as they include florals, animal print, stripes, checks, bows… to name but a few. So clearly I do enjoy prints but I think I would call them gentle and subtle as opposed to bright and bold.
At this point I’m not even sure if I’m making sense if I’m honest… so let’s see if I can sum it up in photos instead shall we?
This kind of dusky, rose pink is probably one of my absolute favourite colours to wear – here I am wearing it as a Sew House 7 Tabor Sweater, a Cinnamon Daisy Sylvie Skirt, a S.O Sew Dressmaking Emily Top and Waves and Wild Heyday dungarees. You can see we have a couple of solids and a couple of prints here and these are all garments that I have reached for almost to the point of being worn out!
Give me a chambray blue shirt and it’s an excellent topper for skirts and trousers with different colours and prints! Again I’d say there is a sort of duskyness to these blues, even the darker blue bow print cotton from Hey Sew Sister made into a Closet Core Nicks Dress. The delicate bow print makes it so much more wearable for me than the bright royal blue floral from earlier. On the bottom row we have a Sea Change Jumpsuit from Pattern Emporium and a Marlo Sweater from True Bias. Top right is a True Bias Mave Skirt with a RTW shirt.
Now here are some prints I have loved wearing over the last year! Each one was given careful thought and consideration into how I would feel wearing them. Did the colours make me feel good? Was there anything about the prints that made me feel uncomfortable? I’ve been toying with the idea of including a bit of leopard print for a while so bit the bullet – the neutral shades of black and tan made it so easy to wear as the Friday Pattern Company Eddy Cardigan Blazer.
A dark base on a print can really make a fabric wearable – the floral in the S.O Sew Dressmaking Emily dress in the top right is a case in point. The floral print is delicate and in some of my favourite shades. The same goes for the floral jersey Sew Over It Lucy dress bottom right. This one just stays on the right side of the scale for me, with the florals remaining within just a couple of shades of pink, and what else do we spot here? A denim jacket tying it all together!
Over time my wardrobe is finally becoming stocked with garments that I am actually wearing, rather than ones I’ve sewn and then never really reach for. I say “becoming” very deliberately here as it is still a work in progress.
A few years ago, I was trying to wear colourful, bold fabrics because that’s what I had admired on other people or because I felt like that was what a confident person would wear. Turned out… they made me feel less confident. Almost like I was on show, but not in the right way! Now I’m wearing clothes that do help me to feel more confident and more like myself.
So if you are finding that you aren’t wearing the things you’ve spent time sewing, definitely take the time to consider what dressmaking fabrics you feel good it. I’m not eschewing colourful prints completely – tastes absolutely change over years and there will still be times where I’ll be so bowled over by a fabric I’ll have to take it home with me. But right now I’m happy working on my wardrobe of those muted, dusky pastels.
