Hi everyone, I'm Sarai, sewing writer and pattern designer for Colette Patterns. In honor of the release of my brand new book, The Colette Sewing Handbook, I thought I'd share a few of my all-time favorite textile prints for making clothes.

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In the chapter on fabric in my book, I go over a range of different types of prints and patterns, from florals to stripes. For me, there are a few types of prints that I always fall in love with at the fabric store.

Ikat

1. Schumacher Sunara Ikat | 2. Amy Butler Lark Glamour Kasbah Persimmon Red | 3. Annette Tatum Bohemian Ikat Diamond Pink

Ikat is a style of fabric weaving used throughout the world. Traditional ikat fabrics can be found in diverse cultures, from Japan to Guatemala. The graphic patterns are often produced in rich colors, and the resulting designs work so beautifully for everything from clothing to decor.

Hi, I’m Sarai, and I want to share a little style and sewing challenge that I’ll bet many of you will be interested in.

First, let me introduce myself. I am the designer and founder behind Colette Patterns, a boutique sewing pattern company. I also write the sewing blog The Coletterie and have a forthcoming sewing book, The Colette Sewing Handbook.

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One of the reasons I started a sewing pattern business is that I love the idea of investing our everyday lives with creativity, making conscious and creative decisions about how to dress rather than feeling overwhelmed by the push of fast fashion and cheap, disposable goods.

To that end, I came up with a fun way for sewists to get their creative juices flowing, by challenging my readers to create a seasonal mini-wardrobe based on an inspiring color palette. We now host palette challenges in the Spring and Fall, and it’s always fun to see what amazing projects people come up with.

The logistics are simple: You create a moodboard and color palette that is inspiring you for the season. Then you choose the number of projects to sew in an 8 week time period, based on your color palette. In the end, you (hopefully) have a coordinated mini-wardrobe.

You can use any patterns, any fabric. The idea is just to focus your sewing around the colors that inspire and excite you.

For my Fall palette this year, I chose sunset hues of mustard-gold, pumpkin, and red punctuated with black and ivory. Here’s what I’ve made so far:

WEEK 1: Lonsdale Dress

 

This late-summer dress is my transition piece, I suppose. The pattern is the Sewaholic Lonsdale dress, and the fabric is a beautiful Italian cotton.

WEEK 2: Clover Pant

 

Last week, I made these slim cigarette pants from my new Clover sewing pattern. The fabric is a mustard wool blend, underlined in cotton twill.

WEEK 3: Chevrons + Clover

And finally, my latest outfit is a second pair of clover pants in black velveteen, paired with a cotton/silk version of the (free) Sorbetto top pattern.

You can still join up!

If you’re interested in trying out your own palette challenge, you can read more details here on the Coletterie (blog).

Get a re-cap or see even more inspiration from our sewing challenges here in the SEWING CHALLENGES section (includes Spring 2011 + the current Fall Challenge underway).

Image credits for my moodboards: vintage mustard wool skirt from Dear Golden, 1930s crepe dress from thirteeneightyfive, image via junebugweddings, the character Joy from Mad Men, orange dress by Erin Fetherston via Style.com, red dress by Marc Jacobs Fall 2004 via Style.com, Orla Kiely cookbook, image via ginnyandjudes Etsy shop

 

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From the Forums

In the Forums we invite all those doing the challenge to post their inspiration boards, color palettes and anything to do with the challenge. It's amazing where some people draw their color inspiration from!

Outer Space Inspiration by "sweetjane"

"I decided to draw my color inspiration from outer space, since I'm a huge nerd & I associate fall with stargazing on brisk September/October/November evenings. (this particular photo is the Horsehead Nebula... I really like the muted almost-autumnal glow of all the colors. My palette could use a little work, but it's pretty close to what I'm going for.)" - sweetjane

Nature Board by "julie s"

Emralds by ginnie.wise

Creme + Orange by michaelannn

Muted Orange + Reds by Chance Of Rain