Color can make or break your sewing project. It really can. Because color is the first thing you notice, right? Some colors work well together, pleasing the eye... others, well-- others just clash. Is there a shirt in your drawer that makes you feel lovely every time you wear it? The answer is probably color.
Colors fall into two main categories: warm and cool. Warm colors have gold undertones-- think of the sunset in the summertime, "earthy" shades, or the changing leaves of fall. Cool colors have blue undertones-- like the sea and the sky and the juicy fruit of a ripe watermelon. Your skin has undertones, too, blue or gold. And that is what determines the colors that make you look your best. Try holding up swatches of different fabrics next to your face... your best colors will make your face stand out. In our family, we all fall under the cool color classification. Every one of us looks great in blue, pink, red, purple, blue-green, turquoise, and black. But we all look awful in orange or olive green! The subject of color is so interesting-- we can't really do it justice in this little post, so we would like to encourage you to read more about it on your own. The Lord has created such a colorful world for us to enjoy!
Sewing projects are much the same way. The colors you choose have to compliment each other, in some way. There are many different ways to do this. Here are some examples...
color combinations...
This group of prints is unified by cool shades of blues and pinks. Notice that they aren't all perfect matches, but they work together in a very striking combination. That's because they are varying shades of the same colors.
The gold and brown fabrics in this group have gold undertones; the pink has blue undertones. The pink works as an accent color for the gold and brown. These fabrics are further unified by their somewhat eclectic patterns.
When matching the prints for this bag, we used blues, reds, and greens. They work together because the intensity (or brightness) of the colors are the same. And, we built them one upon another like dominoes... each print has at least one color from another print.
The colors in this apron are all jewel tones-- very saturated colors often found in precious or semi-precious stones. Except for the black and white, that is... we added that for dramatic impact!
One more note on neutral colors: black & white are cool colors, while brown and cream are usually considered warm.
pattern & scale...
Once you've mastered color, the scale of your prints comes next. This is pretty simple. We like to start out with one big print, then add a medium-sized print and a small "accent" print.
Also, if you are planning to make yourself a garment out of a printed fabric, keep this in mind: big, bold prints enlarge! And don't use too many prints at the same time, or your outfit will start looking too busy.
See. One big print, one medium-sized print, and one tiny print. Isn't this fun?
It may take practice to put together things that look just right! Do you have any questions? Comments? We hope this post is helpful to you, whether sewing or shopping!
This was a fun post to read; I like color! Thank you for sharing. I have a request;
So often, it is easy to look at photos of well-matched colors and think "well, of course they go together!" It's easy when they're side by side already. Could you please post a few photos examples of what colors DON'T go well together? I think that would be just as helpful as seeing what DOES go together - maybe more so.
I've never commented here before, but I just want to let you know that I'm enjoying your blog. Thanks for making it so practical, and pleasant at the same time!
Posted by: Amber | November 22, 2008 at 10:28 AM