As a rule, most quilting fabric collections are comprised of a group of prints that are intended to work together. There is a formula to assembling a collection like this, and most groups work around one central print that holds the collection together. That print is usually larger in scale than the others, has more colors, and sets the tone for the group. As a result, the central print is often the print that attracts people to a collection.

That central print is also the one I tend to avoid when I’m selecting fabrics to make Oliver + S garments.

Isn’t this Birthday Party Dress elegantly understated? I have no idea who designed these fabrics (I don’t recall ever seeing them before), and that’s one of the things that makes the dress work so well. I like it that I’m not able to identify the prints.

Why? Well, in part because it’s the most readily identifiable print. It’s the one that you’re most likely to see and think, “Oh, that’s a print by so-and-so.”

This Tea Party Sundress is made from a Heather Ross print. But the print is one of the supporting prints from this collection, not the central print. I like the sweet, little flowers.

The central print is also often busier than the other prints in the collection, with more colors and a larger size. If you make a garment out of a central print, the finished piece of clothing can often be overwhelming–forcing people who see it to notice the dress before they notice the child. (So you can see that although these principles are separate, there is a lot of overlap between them.)

This Tea Party Sundress, made by Spool in Philadelphia, was created from a supporting print in a Denyse Schmidt collection. I like how Spool has balanced the colors in the print with neutrals, adding in little pops of orange with the piping of the curved seam and with the buttons.

I often find that the supporting prints in a collection–the prints that aren’t quite so bold, bright, and large in scale–are easier to work with and have a little more staying power. They don’t date as quickly or start to feel over-used as much as central prints do.

This 2+2 top serves as a great example of what you can do with a nice supporting print from a collection. It’s not overly bold and flashy. But the print’s tonal shades of purple make it work well as a shirt.

Notice in all the examples I’ve chosen to illustrate this post that there is plenty of color and a wide variety of style among these selections. A garment can embrace color–even bold colors–and different motifs as long as they don’t overwhelm the design or the person wearing it.

This 2+2 top has been made in very bright yellow but in what’s obviously a supporting print from a collection. The small scale of the print balances the brightness of the color. I like how the tab and collar trim don’t match perfectly with the print. It lends some visual interest to the top.

For many of these garments, I can’t identify the designer of the fabric, which I think is a good thing. It’s not that fabric designers don’t deserve recognition and shouldn’t have a distinctive style. But when a garment is made from a very bold, large print in a signature style, chances are good that the child will get lost behind the clothing.

A big thanks to April Henry, of April 1930′s, for contributing a new tutorial to our tutorial blog.

Every so often, we get a question on how to construct the back placket on the Swingset Tunic. This element of the garment uses a unique and unusual construction technique that will be unfamiliar to almost anyone sewing from the pattern for the first time.

April’s tutorial walks you through these steps of the process very clearly with excellent, detailed photos. The tutorial will be a great resource for anyone sewing the tunic for the first time.

And check out April’s finished top. Lovely.

Every so often, we get a question from someone who is sewing the back placket on the Swingset Tunic. That’s understandable. This element of the garment uses a unique and unusual construction technique that will be unfamiliar to almost anyone sewing from the pattern for the first time.

We’re extremely grateful to April Henry, of April 1930′s, who has been kind enough to put together a very nice photo tutorial on this step in the garment’s construction. Her tutorial will help guide you through the process if you have questions about this step. So, without further ado, here’s April’s tutorial.

Follow the instructions to sew the back edge of the lining to the back yoke and re-fold the two layers to form the placket.

Then follow the instructions to attach the straps to the back bodice.

The finished yoke or bodice, before attaching the ruffle, looks like this:

Baste the two plackets together with a 3/8” seam. Being careful to start and stop only on the placket section, as shown below. Don’t stitch the lining in this step.

Now you are ready to attach the back section to the ruffle.

Stitch the back pieces to the ruffle with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, being careful not to catch the lining in the seam. Pinning the lining out of the way will aid in this step.

Finish the seam allowances as desired (I serged) and then clip the seam on each side of the placket. The placket seam will remain down, while the other seams will be pressed up towards the bodice and tucked inside the lining.

Continue with the garment construction as indicated in the pattern.

And here’s the finished result.

If you’re interested in the special, decorative zigzag stitching that April has used to finish the front of the top she’s sewn for this tutorial, she information available on her site on the special, vintage foot she used. Be sure to check out the vintage TV commercial that she includes in this page. It’s a classic.

Here’s a little trick that will prevent an elastic waistband from turning and getting twisted.

Leave a little extra space in the width of the casing, and edgestitch the top edge of the waistband before you feed the elastic through. For some reason, that top row of stitching will prevent the elastic from folding over on itself when the elastic is added.

You can use this little trick in any elastic waistband, but it seems to be more of an issue in waistbands that have elastic all the way around; back-only elastic waistbands have less of a tendancy to twist and turn.

Try this little tip in the Lazy Days Skirt, the Bedtime Story Pajamas, and the Puppet Show Shorts and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results!

This 2 + 2 blouse and pleated skirt is understated and tremendously elegant while still wholly appropriate for a child.

If you had run across these fabrics at your local quilt shop, would you have thought “children’s clothing” when you saw them? Probably not. But didn’t this outfit turn out great? I like how Hannah, the seamstress, chose a subdued, muted color palette for the outfit. She has been very subtle in her use of color. The grayish-bluish colors in the 2 + 2 blouse, offset on the cream-colored background, are very understated. And the combination of that rich brown for the skirt might be an unexpected choice, but I love how the ensemble comes together. It’s very restrained in its use of color (the whole outfit is playing with a number of neutral tones), but in this case I think it works well with the lines of the design. Together the skirt and the blouse are elegant. They are sophisticated. And they definitely allow you to see the child before the outfit.

People sometimes don’t realize that it’s OK to be a bit restrained when it comes to using color for children’s clothing. Sometimes just a little pop of color is all an outfit needs.

Birthday Party Dress sewn by our own Brooke Reynolds as an Easter dress for her daughter (love that matching tie for her son!).

This Birthday Party Dress has been made in a plain, neutral linen—with just a delicate wisp of color added thanks to the Liberty print used for the tab. This, too, is a bit unexpected. I love the choice of natural linen for the dress, and the addition of the print takes a plain fabric and turns it into something elegant. People tend to think that a dress for a little girl needs to be made from a busy, floral print. This dress turns that assumption on its head, using a tiny floral print in just a wee dose, and it works especially well.

But just because I’ve highlighted a couple very understated outfits doesn’t mean that everything needs to be very reserved and reliant on muted colors.

This Birthday Party Dress looks cool and ready for summer in a calm, relaxed palette of greens.

Here’s a dress that in some respects is the mirror opposite of the last one I highlighted. This Birthday Party Dress uses a floral print for the body and a linen for the tab. The print is busier than the others I’ve highlighted so far, but it’s still somewhat modest in comparison to many fabrics on the market today. It’s almost monochromatic with the different tones of green on a white background, but the lightest shade of green—which verges on yellow—steps out from the background a bit to give the dress a little visual interest. The fabric, while reserved and understated, is perfectly appropriate for a child’s garment and actually gives the finished piece an air of sophistication that you don’t find in most ready-made clothing for children. It feels cool and summery, doesn’t it?

Now please don’t infer from what I’m saying here that you need to be afraid of color. You can use very vibrant colors. You just need to select and balance your colors carefully.

Bright yellow is toned down with neutrals for a large (but not overpowering) print in this 2 + 2 blouse with Puppet Show shorts.

I really love this combination. For this outfit, the sewer has combined the Puppet Show short with the 2 + 2 top. For the shorts she’s used a gray denim, and she has played this very effectively off the Amy Butler print she’s selected for the top. The gray of the print subtly picks up the gray of the denim (which is repeated in the patch at center front), but these neutrals are really there to serve as a base for the yellow in the print that subtly steps to the fore. The outfit, again, is elegant and mature (not juvenile at all), but it’s wholly appropriate for a child.

Here’s another piece sewn by the same sewer that uses even more color.

Even bright colors can be subtle and elegant, as you can see with this Birthday Party Dress.

You have noticed here, haven’t you, that we’ve moved away from neutrals and have landed solidly in the land of pink? (No matter how much we try to mitigate against it at home, there’s a certain four-year-old there who just has to have her pink dresses….) But a bright pink fabric—bright enough to make any pink-loving little girl happy—can still be turned into a sophisticated and understated dress if it’s selected and balanced correctly.

Note that although this dress is very pink, it’s not a busy-print pink. There aren’t flowers and six other colors in the print. The print is a vibrant color, but it’s grounded nicely by the simple geometric pattern laid onto the bright base, by the matching solid brown tab, and by the brown shirt layered under the dress. This is a perfect example of how it’s possible to use very vibrant colors and still create an outfit that’s somewhat understated and that ensures you’ll see the child before the dress.

There’s a l
ittle secret I have that helps me pick the more reserved, and often more sophisticated, prints that appear in quilt shops each season. I tend to avoid the central prints in most designers’ collections. But that’s the topic of the next post in the series. So stay tuned.

Today we continue our series of posts highlighting participants in our Boutique Sewer Program by sharing a recent exchange with Sandy Stewart of Virginia Beach, VA–ringleader of the all-in-the-family a.j.jacks clothing team.

Sandy, can you tell us a little about yourself and the others who sew with you under the a.j.jacks name?
In a word, “family.” a.j.jacks is a family business, established by my daughters and me and financed by our generous husband-dad-grandpa extraordinaire. What really makes this possible is the time, talent, and dedication of our daughter Jenna Stewart Mahon who lives in Toronto, ON, (center) and our daughter by marriage Billie Jeanne Stewart of Atlanta, GA (left) and the enormous support of their husbands. (Editor’s note: Sandy is at right in the photo.)

The garments you create as part of the boutique Sewer Program all have a distinctive look that says a.j.jacks. How do you do that?
I have eight amazing grandchildren, and they are our inspiration. There are five girls and three boys. The initials of seven of them and the name of the one born in the year of our start-up inspired our name and everything we do: Ava Jacqueline Jordan Aidan Cecelia Kirsten Jack and Savanna.

You always choose interesting fabrics. What are some of your favorites?
Our upcoming fall/winter line is my favorite so far. It’s a mix and match selection from the Tina Givens designer collection. This fall clothing collection will be our first line with a name, “The Ava Collection.” (Ah, yes, the grandchildren!)

When we started out we picked any and every fabric that caught our eye, with no real sense of continuity. But as we have evolved over these 10 months, we have become a bit more aware of “themes.” Our first full line consists of many bird prints, and the name Ava means “like a bird.” Well, you can see how that all came together.

How do you determine which fabrics to match with a pattern?
That part is so much fun. For me, I picture one of the little ones, and since there are eight of them, I have eight very different children with eight very different personalities. My daughter by marriage has an amazing eye for matching colors and designs, and I just love the combinations she comes up with.

You’ve sewn from many of the Oliver + S patterns. Do you have any favorites?
My personal favorite is the 2+2 Blouse. I really enjoy mixing and matching the body of the shirt with the placket and the trim, and I think the finished shirt looks just adorable. I also like that it can be short or long sleeve.

Jenna really likes the Swingset Tunic. I think it’s because she grew up a “beach girl” and this top has that look!

Billie Jeanne’s favorite is the Puppet Show Tunic. Even though it is a bit more time consuming to make, she really likes the way it turns out. I think it would be so cute as a dress, and we will do one in the future I’m sure. She also really likes the Birthday Party Dress, and who doesn’t for that matter? It’s very, very sweet!

Where do you sell your garments?
For now, through our Etsy store and word of mouth with friends and family. We will be in a trade show here in Virginia Beach on Thanksgiving weekend, which is where we will showcase our fall/winter line. We are really excited to see what that experience will bring to our business.

How do you determine how to price each garment you sew?
This is by far, the most challenging aspect of our business. Since I am attempting to build a business that our family can one day benefit from financially, I am aware of the fact that even though we are having so much fun doing this I still have to price our items fairly with both the consumer and my hard-working and talented daughters in mind.

What have you done to market your business that has been successful for you?
We all have personal blogs and our a.j.jacks blog with a loyal following. We did a spring giveaway that generated a few orders. In July we will have a one-year anniversary giveaway that will be different from the first and really fun. Because of the changes in this giveaway we hope to produce more orders from this one than the previous one. Our giveaway is unique!

Do you have any plans for the future?
Oh my goodness! My head spins with future plans–way too many to bore you with in one sitting–but definitely to have our own web site as soon as possible. The girls and I would just love to visit you all in New York City. That would be so inspirational! Since my dream is to build for the future Stewart generation I’m constantly thinking of future plans. It’s all such fun!

See more recent photos in the a.j.jacks photostream on Flickr.

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our newest website feature–the Oliver + S discussion forums. You can access the forums by clicking on the text in the navigation bar at the top of every page.

The forums are designed to provide you with a place to ask other customers questions about sewing with Oliver + S patterns and to discuss other topics of general interest. There is no charge to use the forums. All you need to do is create a username and password to begin participating.

We hope to grow the content in the forums over time so that they become a valuable repository of information for our customers. So if you have a question or a comment, please share it there. Let us, with a little help from technology, connect you with other people asking the same questions and coming up with creative ideas for what they can do with Oliver + S patterns.