All of us on this diary love quilting -- that's why we're here. How often, though, do we think of our quilting as wearable art? I've done three pieces of wearable, pieced, art. Travel below the orange squiggle for more on some of the techniques involved.
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The picture above is a short Haori, or Japanese overcoat I made for a girlfriend a couple of years ago whose mother had passed away after a long battle with cancer. The friend loved Japanese Anime, so I thought this would please her, which it did. It had sections that were log cabin done with Japanese inspired fabrics.
This is a close up detail of the left side of the jacket.
One of the benefits of a Haori is that it doesn't have much fitting -- no darts. That is a key criteria for wearable art, in my opinion: finding patterns with no darts or any other fitting aspects. This is because darts, or seams that curve in and out, would ruin most quilting pattern.
I made myself a pieced art vest for our trip to Alaska this spring.
It was made mostly with scraps, such as the fairy on the right which was left over from a backpack I made a niece for Christmas. The back just has a small bit of ornamentation.
I've also done a "redo a sweatshirt" project. Sweatshirts have no fitting aspects in them, so they work well for this concept. Below is a sweatshirt I did for my sister for Christmas 2013; she loves dogs. I left the collar and cuffs in place and just took the bottom off and cut it down the middle. I fused and appliqued the dogs and paw prints and added the cute dog buttons on top.
So how do you create wearable art? And here I am referring to clothing made from scratch, not sweatshirt redos. The first step, and the key one, is to find a pattern that you like that has little or no shaping. The vest had soft outward lines towards the hips, but no curves. Assume that you will line the vest or skirt, or whatever it is. Cut out all your lining pieces -- for the vest that was just 3 pieces -- and use those pieces as your template for designing the quilting/piecing pattern. Realistically, you are designing fabric. The same would be true if you stenciled or painted the fabric.
Some things I learned on these projects: 1) I would quilt the squares in the Haori. The heavier, pieced fabric, has a very slight droop to it. At some point I may get the Haori back and do the quilting on it; 2) I would use white thread for the edging stitch on the vest. I thought because the back was blue, I'd use blue thread but it does show up too much. At some point I might rip it out and replace it. 3) For the sweatshirt with dogs, I'd use a little heavier fusing fabric. It worked out but I think it would have looked better and been easier to applique if it was a bit stiffer. I'm not sure though. It could have added more bulk. I'm not planning on redoing that.
Has anyone else done wearable art? Can we see pictures, please?
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