At Colette Patterns: 'Contrast Fabric Dresses'

I like to keep an eye on what is going on in the clothing shops (in fact one of my jobs relies upon it) but only on the odd occasion do I see a style or idea that directly inspires me. Recently, however, I've noticed a lot of dresses that have the top part made in one fabric and the skirt part made in another. Some of these dresses include one fabric which is a print or stripes with the other a solid contrast, whilst others have two different solid colours.

For those of us who like to make out own clothes, combining different fabrics when making any dress pattern that has a seam at the waist or bust can be a great idea for multiple reasons. It gives you the ability to include pieces of fabric you may have that aren't big enough to make an entire dress from; you can include a crazy print without it overwhelming you or the dress design; plus it also means you can create multiple garments from the same pattern over and over without them looking like replications! Need more convincing plus some inspirational visuals? Head over to my post at the Colette Patterns blog.