Bright Ideas for Wearables

Lorraine Torrence has published four leaflets, as well as two pattern lines, about how to make wearables using buttons, threadwork and bits and pieces along with different types of finishing. As you would suspect, the leaflets are called:

Volume 1: Button Strategies

Volume 2: Finishing Touches

Volume 3: Threadwork

Volume 4: Bits and Pieces

Each leaflet has subsections. Volume 1 covers, stacked, covered, cufflink and mismatched. Volume 2 covers knife edge with top stitching, binding, piping, flanges and ruffles. Volume 3 covers bobbin work and couching. Volume 4 covers what the author calls needle in a haystack, tulle, layered fabric, leather collage and finally ribbon, yarn and braid.

While this video discusses wearable creations, I can see several that will work very well for quilting, for example, the tulle idea. She takes a square of plain fabric, muslin would work, and scatters very small pieces of fabric over it. Then she places a piece of tulle on top and quilts all over the square. Now you have “yardage” from which to cut your quilt or in the author’s case, the pattern piece.

The video is three hours long and the author seems nervous as she talks. Probably not her strong suit but her knowledge is very useful. Whether you are making wearables or quilts, this is a very interesting video.