Mixing prints? Yes, please!

Summer Outfit In Prints

I almost never wear prints and when I do it’s exactly on one item of an outfit. But I’ve had this heavy Maiwa block printed fabric in my stash forever. Last summer I made the leaflets fabric into a True Bias Ogden tank and it turns out that I love wearing it. I think the black/grey combo gives it a neutral enough vibe that I feel like it fits with every pair of pants and skirt I own.

So this summer, I decided to use up the single yard of chevron fabric to try out a new pattern, Arden from Helen’s Closet. Turns out I didn’t have quite enough to make the pockets, so I grabbed my leftover scraps of the leaflet fabric and it’s just such a charming detail! Of course that made me have to try the my new shorts with my printed tank. I added a grey/black striped bra just to add to the mayhem! What do you think? Does all the print mixing work?

To top off the look, I went with a pop of colour in my Merino/cashmere kerchief, Three Seasons Shawl. I am in constant need of temperature adjustments, so a very soft little shawlette is just the ticket — tie it on when I have a little chill and pull it off the second I get hot. (It looks like the small shawl kits are sold out on the Gauge site, but if you like a larger, 2-skein shawl, all the colours are in stock as of me writing this post.)

Here are some Three Seasons projects on Ravelry and here’s some on Insta if you want to see the other colours and what knitters have made!

Andrea is wearing a cute outfit of printed black shorts & a tank with grey leaflets on the top and grey chevrons on the shorts. She’s got a colourful textured shawlette wrapped kerchief style.

View of Andrea’s print-mixed outfit from the back, including chevron patterned shorts, a leaflet patterned tank, and a striped bra. Everything is in shades of grey but a colourful shawlette tied around her neck.

Closeup of Andrea looking down, wearing a striped, textured shawl wrapped in draping layers. It’s in shades of grey, blue, yellow, and pink.

Side view of Andrea’s print-mixed outfit with a peek of leaflet fabric visible inside the pocket of her chevron shorts.

Details

Here’s that little peek of leaflet fabric inside the slash pocket. So cute! I never would have thought to try that if I hadn’t run out of chevron fabric.

And for folks wondering about the sewing specifics:

My measurements are
- Bust: 31”
- Waist: 26”
- Hips: 37.5”
I made a size 2 in the Ogden tank and I’ve made a bunch of them, so I know that’s a fit I like, even with the stiffer cotton fabric. The fabric has softened up with washing and wear.
Because my fabric was pretty heavy and stiff, I used black silk crepe for the facing and straps. That worked great.
I made a straight size 10 in the Arden shorts and am happy with the fit, which seems like a miracle to me. I know they’re elastic waistband pants, so a big difference between waist and hips doesn’t matter as much, but most of the time I alter bottoms massively because the pattern just doesn’t have my proportions in mind. That’s fine and part of making my own clothes, but I loved that the pattern included the suggestion to choose a size based on your hips rather than waist (assuming your hips are the bigger measurement) and that it had finished garment measurements. That helped me decide to make a size 10 instead of an 8 because I could see that the 8 wouldn’t go over my hips. A lot of times I find that elastic waistband pants seem huge on me when I make the size for my hips, so I was pleasantly surprised that this fit just worked for me!
I used the shorts hack from the Helen’s Closet website, which worked great, even if it did take me some time to get my head around all the lines. One thing I like about sewing is that it helps me work on spacial reasoning, something I don’t feel naturally good at.
I did a 5” inseam, which I decided was too long for my taste. So I folded the hems up in the photos and that’s probably how I’ll wear them. Next time I’m going to try a 3.5” inseam instead.
I’ll definitely be making more of this pattern, both shorts and pants.
If you want to see this outfit in action, here’s an Insta reel I made.

HOw do you feel about prints?

And have you made a Three Seasons shawl? Tell me about your feelings and projects in the comments!

P.S. If you want in on this year’s Gauge Summer Yarn + Pattern Club, signups close tomorrow, May 26, 2023, so sign up now! To be clear, The Three Seasons shawl I’m wearing is not the pattern or yarn for this summer’s club. That was from 2021. This year’s club will be all new surprise designs inspired by the ocean. Here’s an FAQ from Catherine at Gauge.

P.P.S. If you want to see all the designs me and Catherine have made together, here they are!