Choosing Multiple Colors for a Pattern

A few of the patterns I've featured on my blog have the option to use multiple fabrics with more than one color and motif. For many people, selecting complementary colors and designs for a piece can be daunting - but it doesn't have to be! I'm going to show you how to transform a piece by selecting colors and motifs that complement each other. To best demonstrate this, I'll be using a pattern which has already made an appearance on our blog.






The pattern is designed by Katherine Tilton for Vogue Patterns; it can be found in many fabric stores. All of the options (A-D) use at least two different colors or motifs - I'm going to show you how to make option C, which uses three different colors and motifs. 






I started planning this piece by selecting the design for the largest portion first. With this pattern, the shirt is composed of one main design of fabric and two complementary accents. For this first section, I chose to use my Knit Batik in Purple Leaves on Indigo because it ties together a few colors that can be used in the accent sections. 

Purple Leaves on Indigo




With the main section picked out, I was able to pull colors from the motif to select the next two accent sections. The best way to match up the colors is by using the no-motifs of the same style. Indigo with Purple Hand Dye is the no-motif version of Purple Leaves on Indigo, which we used above.

Indigo with Purple Hand Dye




For the final accent color, I used another hand dyed no-motif fabric. I selected this one by simply holding a sample of the fabric up to the other two I had already selected. With all three next to each other, I was able to get a good idea of how well they would complement each other in this piece. I wanted to bring out the purple that was in both the no-motif and motif fabrics, so I matched Amethyst Jewel to the purple present in both fabrics. 

Amethyst Jewel




Before sending you off to try your own pairings, let me give you one more example! 

The main section: Midnight Jungle




A complement of the main section: Blue Beauty with Purple Splash




An accent color from both: Purple Rain




Happy Sewing!


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