Fabrics…the love of my sewing life! How to choose the right print for a dress – WAChallenge2015

The choice of the fabric is the step I most enjoy in making a dress! Looking at, touching and caressing fabrics is always something magic. Generally it’s love at first sight: when I see THE right fabric, I want it to be mine. And I mostly don’t have a project in mind when I buy it, I like to think what it can turn into calmly and later.

I’m not good in choosing the fabric in a rational way. I’ve rarely done it and always regretted it. It’s an instinct matter and reason has always put me on the wrong way, at least in this case and so far.

Generally prints and textures strikes me mainly. I like every kind of small scale prints, like small flowers, small dots, small stripes, small geometric and abstract shapes that create an optical effect, small textures that give life to the fabric. Small scale prints set the fabric off harmonically in my opinion. Of course I like large scale prints also, but they don’t generally suit me. They’re too loud for me. I’d like to try to appreciate them thanks to some sewing experiments, but I have to say that I’ve preferred the first ones for my personal wardrobe so far.

I like to play with contrasts mainly in spring and summer. In winter I use to wear more tonal and subdued prints or solids. Weather affects me and so my way of dressing. My new goal for 2015 is to experiment with contrasts and prints even in the cool season.

Here are some examples of prints I bought and turned into (or will turn into) dresses:

For some of them in particular, I already have some ideas in mind!

If you are interest in finding out what kind of prints would be perfect for your wardrobe, here you can find the exercises of the week 7 of the Wardrobe Architect 2015 Challenge.

The Coletterie blog invite you to think about:

• Prints vs. solids
• Scale (large scale prints vs. small scale, or a mixture of both)
• Contrast
• Type of prints (floral, abstract, geometric designs, ecc.)
• Mood (what style of prints makes you feel at ease?)

Have fun!