One of the pieces of fabric I took with me to San Francisco was a beautiful piece of mudcloth I had picked up several years ago at a sewing expo in Baltimore. I love the fabric but had never made it up because, although I had a vague image of what I wanted to make in my head, I was not sure that the fabric was my best color and I was therefore not sure how to pull it off. I took it to San Francisco with a vague idea that I might be able to use a new pattern of Sandra’s for it, but that did not pan out, and also thinking that I might be able to find some coordinating fabric to use with it.
Well I was successful in finding coordinates and I am very happy with the results:
The grayish fabric on the left with the yellow pattern is the mudcloth, I have about 4 yards and it is 30" wide. Although you can’t see it here, there is a greenish cast to the gray, that is the problem shade. On the right are two Japanese cottons I purchased to go with the mudcloth. The lighter blue/gray one will be lining and perhaps carried up onto the collar to frame the face. I was originally planning the black one with the taupe squares to be cut as a bias binding between the lining and the mudcloth, but I bought extra to use as a top to wear with the skirt I plan on using with the bottom fabric, which is an upholstery fabric, silk and rayon that I plan to cut on the bias for a skirt to wear with the coat/jacket. I will probably also use it somehow in the jacket but that is still rather vague. The top fabric picks up the beigy-yellow of the bottom upholstery fabric and the grey of the mudcloth and will be incorporated somehow, probably as trim. This is all still rather vague in my mind; all that I know is that I like the way the fabrics work together.
This is a close-up of the texture of the bottom fabric with just a corner of the black and taupe Japanese cotton.
I envision the whole jacket as a kind of coat or topper, roughly 3/4 length although that may not be possible given the yardage on the mudcloth. I would like some kind of standup or dramatic turned back collar. The day after I bought this fabric Sandra came in with a coat which is a draft for a swing coat pattern she has coming out for Vogue in September. I tried on the model, which is a size D, and it fit me very well through the shoulders so there is little I would have to do in the way of alterations. It is basically the style I am after so I will wait until that pattern comes out.
In the meantime I want to put these fabrics where I can see them and let them inspire my sewing fantasies.