Modern Sewing Starts Here Edition 14

Cut, sew, quilt, cut, and repeat

Brazilian-born sewing blogger, Rachel Pinheiro shares how to use patchwork and quilting when making the Tamarack Jacket from Grainline Studio!

Trend: Denim Patchwork – The Joy Jacket

As the dark winter months have officially set in and daylight is limited to lunchtime walks, I began to think about my fashion trend choices for 2021.

With lockdown life still a reality for many of us, it’s not been an easy ride. It may feel frivolous to talk about fashion but in reality, the process of choosing what to wear daily can bring a state of normality and grounding and allow us to feel like ourselves! A big part of any sartorial decisions of late for me is comfort, this has been my number one goal, and also adding a little more sense of joy to my sewing.

Time to create

And there is much joy to be found in taking the time to make something a little more labour intensive! The pleasure in the process is a century-old art.

Quilting and patchwork has always being present in people’s homes but never really at the forefront of fashion trends, until now!

Sustainability

It’s back on the agenda with the rise of sustainability at the forefront. Questioning our consumption never has had such a strong drive. We can finally brag, we’ve always been in ‘the-know’! Like me, you probably enjoy using up scraps of fabrics, creating patterns, and the enjoyment of imagination. I wanted to share this project from the perspective of a garment sewer. Quilters have an amazing eye for colour and design complexity, and I wanted to inspire others who perhaps haven’t tried quilting or patchwork yet to give it a go!

Inspiration for quilting and patchwork

Using the basics of blocks and the improvtechnique. I love ‘improv- quilting’ where anything goes. Improv-quilting is as it sounds, a chance to ad-lib and have no expectations of block calculations, accurate measuring or creating deliberate shapes and designs. The block I used is the half triangle.

Fabrics - Springfield Chambray From Modelo

Using my quilting rule width, I created long rectangular strips, rather than squares, and made neat piles of all three shades of denim. Then I joined two random colours together and trimmed all the squares into the same size forming two quilted tops – one for the body another for the sleeves.

In terms of design, the only consideration I had to make, was how to balance the darks and lights. At first, I planned to have a deliberate zig-zagging pattern along the body. I even joined the pattern pieces and omitted the side seam to create one pattern piece. I used this to gauge if my the fabric piece was big enough. When I tried the toile version (lazily thinking to use it as lining) it just didn’t have the effect I had thought it would. Luckily my quilt top was just big enough to cut the patterns separately.

For me, playing with patchworking is all about the fun element and it’s a great way of using up those scraps of fabric to create a one-of-a-kind garment!

Tamarack Jacket Pattern Grainline Studio

Editor’s notes

Rachel has used the Tamarack Jacket Pattern from Grainline Studio to make her jacket.

About the Tamarack Jacket pattern

This sewing pattern has been designed with the transitional seasons in mind and is a warm and stylish quilted coat that’s perfect for spring and autumn layering. You can follow one of the two quilting designs included or design your own like Rachel so it’s totally original for you! You’ll stay toasty thanks to the inner layer of cotton or wool wadding while the roomy welt pockets keep your belongings safe and your hands warm. Techniques include straight seams, basic quilting, inserting a welt pocket and applying bias binding. Light to mid-weight cottons, linens, chambrays and blends work well for this jacket. Since the fabric will be doubled and quilted to wadding, avoid anything too heavy as the jacket may become excessively stiff. The pattern is perfect for advanced beginners, and comes in sizes 0-18.

Springfield Chambray from Modelo

The fabric Rachel has used includes three colourways – Dark, Light and Mid Blue from the Springfeld Chambray Fabric Collection from Modelo. This fabric is lovely quality and perfect for allsorts of apparel projects.