Countdown to 200 posts continues with my most popular ever post. It has Kaffe Fassett, it has vintage shopping and it has patchwork and lush textiles and it is sustainability at its best….no wonder it’s my most read post!
His first astonishingly beautifully photographed book on quilting just mesmerized me and I spent many months drinking in his truly glorious colours and original takes on this traditional craft. After purchasing the skirt I realised that all I needed were a few selected greens and then I would have enough to get going on this throw. I had been collecting brocade from sample books for some years and had really wanted to replicate the colourway of the throw in the book, however when I found the skirt something clicked and I knew it would work with everything I had been collecting, just in case, for a few years.
I had a large piece of Liberty of London upholstery weight fabric that I used as a border for a door curtain so the hunt was on for the remaining pieces of that. Also from the charity shop was a formal shirt in gold silk brocade so I added that to the pile as well. Recently I had found some fabric samples from a new range in Spotlight [Australia's Joanne's] which were very deeply textured and patterned and also had some deep red jacquard which I had bought as a remnant. All I needed for the rest of the throw were the 30cm squares which I had been collecting for some years of gorgeous brocade samples in golds and reds and greens and some red floral fabric which I had bought several weeks before.
Once I started cutting out and arranging the top it was very quick to come together….I was held up for a few days when i realised that I needed another floral of some sort……. knew I had just the thing…somewhere and had to search the garage for them. The overall design was very easy and as a lot of the samples already had overlocking around them that saved me a lot of time, upholstery fabric frays a lot and requires some kind of stitching either before sewing the seam or after you see. Once I added a border, which Kaffe was not always adding in those days, it seemed to really finish off the top perfectly.
A week or so earlier Spotlight had just introduced a divine chenille….darkest red with gold swirls throughout…I just had to have it for the backing even though it was about $30 all told. That’s a lot for me as I usually use thrifted fabric or sale fabric for backings. this was going to be a leess expensive option anyway as I did not need wadding or batting inside the two layers as the chenille was so thick and heavy. I had been drooling over several throws at Laura Ashley and I was so excited by this chenille as it as even more lush than the ones in that store.
I slip stitched the border to the backing fabric and then top stitched around the inner border. It has been three years now of fairly constant display and during that time it has faded slightly so that it looks truly vintage…I even washed it once in case the dreaded mould had infected it and it came up better than new. After a few months I made a few companion cushions with some of the remaining skirt brocade and a tiny little piece of embroidered silk that as it was $185 a metre was all I could afford! The minimum cut was 30cm and I made every centimetre count! It is well placed I think in the heart of the brocade…..I think the woman who wore that skirt would wear something made out of that silk today…a little bit goes a long way and both the silk and the brocade are truly the stars of this throw!
4 Comments
my comments from the old post:
6 Responses to “Vintage Kaffe Fassett Style and the Brocade Skirt”
1.
# Jacquie 19 May 2008
I know what you mean about Kaffe Fassett. I haven’t ever bought any of his fabrics…someday. I love reading his books over and over. The pictures are amazing and his quilts so inspiring.
I too love the photography in his books…so many people have been inspired to shoot their quilts outdoors because of his books. There is so much inspiration around and that is so apparent in his books…his china, glassware etc etc. I have a lot of his fabrics…my husband bought them for me on a trip to England and I have been trying to get more to contrast with what he bought. Almost there!
2.
# Kate 19 May 2008
Gorgeous. I love the way you put your fabrics together.
I had Kaffe knitting books, they must be in the garage somewhere. I should hunt them out.
Wow you were quick today…were you at work when you did this? I gave my Kaffe knitting books to the library and have never seen them since…I have found copies at Vinnies since. Incredibly expensive to buy new, I get them from Amazon.com when he has new ones out and save a bit that way.
Must try to do some non florals…tricky with upholstery and brocades as they seem to need the mix of fabrics….but should try and it would help the masses of piles of bulky fabrics I have in the garage!
3.
# Ruth 22 May 2008
It’s beautiful!
Thanks Ruth….its special to me as it was my first upholstery quilt.
4.
# angiesangels 26 May 2008
Fantastic!! It’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t believe how expensive the silk was. I baulk at $8.00/yard fabric. Wow….
Thanks Angie! Yes the price of the silk was mind boggling and a friend of mine who was unaware of the price [am being gracious] paid me $20 for a cushion I made her with it. Ouch!!
5.
# Judy11 Jun 2008
Hi, I followed you from Angie’s blog. Your work is absolutely beautiful!
Breath-taking.
Thank you Judy….your comment went to moderation so it was a nice surprise! I am all about the fabric, which is why I am currently trying to catalogue everything I have. Can’t believe what a task I undertook! Isn’t it fun meandering around the blogosphere? I especially like it when I bump into people I know on sites I don’t!
I remember that post well. It was a “goodie”
That pillow in the front is gorgeous!
One thing that I miss about wordpress is blog stats. Blogger won’t tell me which posts are the most read and where my traffic is coming from. I know there isn’t too much traffic, because of not allowing search engines to find my blog. But it would still be nice to see the traffic flow.
Have a great day, Kathleen!
Hope the stat counter thing helped that i sent…its very useful, as is woopra….i can see you when you are online sometimes…feel like waving to you!!
If you look carefully at the old post’s photo…my hubby’s shoes were in the shot..on the right….i discovered picnik since then and edited them out for the new post!!!
You make brocade look even prettier! I love the quilt you show in this original post and also the pillows! I would never trust myself with such pretty fabrics, LOL. But I do appreciate seeing what you can do with them!
Hi Teeni…I love brocade and actually just found a bedspread…new one made with some dressmaking quality brocade and am going to make myself a lovely coat/jacket with some of it.
You will be inspiring me soon teeni …what with your new craft room!
Stunning! Just beatuiful! And, so original!
I found you because I googled Kaffe Fassett 06 fabric. i have been desperately trying to find Roman Stripe in color 06 (RS06). I’m making Kaffe’s Sail Away from one of his early books (#3) and have collected all the fabric but this one. Only need 1/4 yard. Sounds like you’ve been collecting his fabric for a long time too. Do you have any ideas as to where I could find this fabric?
Thank you!
Susan