Colour blocked Onyx shirt
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Colour Blocked Onyx

This project is something I had in mind since I started developing the Onyx: the lines of View B lend itself perfectly to colour blocking. I’ve actually thought about including this as a View C in the pattern, but it would have become too complicated to read with all the lines going through the middle.  So here it is anyway, this week as a finished make, next week as a tutorial to show you how to adapt the pattern. Besides colour blocking I also wanted to make a super airy Onyx. So far I’ve only shown the pattern with lawn, batiste and linen, but the version without the cuffs or even sleeves is also very suitable for drapey fabrics such as rayon, crepe and chiffon.

Colour blocked Onyx shirt
Colour blocked Onyx shirt

And then I had another, longstanding goal of my own: combining prints. I don’t consider this one of my fortes, when others do it I sometimes don’t even see why it would be a good idea to combine those prints. I was in luck when strolling the fabric stalls in Groningen a few weeks ago. That particular stall usually doesn’t even have the most fashionable prints, but I spotted these two and saw a match. The dark blue one is a poly crepe, the yellow one a poly chiffon. And both for just €1.50 a meter! I have 2m left of the crepe, it might become a summer dress at some point. I sewed the remaining 1.5 m of chiffon into a loop scarf to give away on Instagram – yellow isn’t really my colour after all!

Colour blocked Onyx shirt
Colour blocked Onyx shirt

I sewed them with French seams throughout. Serged seams might have created less bulk, but I was sure my serger would eat that chiffon. I made my own bias tape with the crepe, a bit of a fiddly process with such a lightweight fabric, but not as much as I had anticipated. The neckline and armholes turned out fine, using this method of applying the bias tape. The shaping that I usually do wasn’t necessary though, it shaped itself easily to the neckline. Using a size 60/8 needle also made sewing easier.

Colour blocked Onyx shirt
Colour blocked Onyx shirt

On the hanger I really like the result, but I’m not such a fan of the transparency of the chiffon. I’m wearing a top underneath. But I love the curve of the connecting seam. Some colour blocked shirts can be a bit square and chop you in half, but this curve makes it more feminine. I think it would actually work even better in fabrics with a bit more weight. The hem seems quite uneven in these pics, but it’s just the way it falls in these different poses. Next week I’ll show you how to hack the pattern to make your own colour blocked Onyx!

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5 Comments

  1. those fabirc look lovely together! I often have the same issue when mixing fabric/patterns, so I’m glad its not just me!

    1. Definitely not, I usually combine prints with a solid. Easier on the eyes I think :)

  2. Oh, this is lovely, I will try out this option…. your print combining here is great. I’m quite cool with combining prints and colours, i attribute it to my painting, but I don’t really like many print combinations that I see. A subtle one like this, yes. Otherwise it can look a bit circus. I think a lot of the problem comes from two things (at least) – the fabric designers who make all these marvellous prints designed for quilting with, and the fashion designers who show prints combined – a Christian Lacroix can do it, most mortals can’t – and can’t wear them either. It’s also part of the syndrome “I’m a sewist and therefore I cannot just sew a plain black skirt which would be too boring, therefore I must have the yoke in a print and the hem band in another”…. and so on;)

    1. I think you’re quite right about not wanting to sew something boring! And that print combinations are sometimes best left to the ‘professionals’ :) I won’t attempt it more often I think, it makes it even harder to combine with other garments.

  3. I think you have a print combining success. Your prints are not battling each other for attention. I like how the curved line of the blocking is feminine.

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