Scrappy Selvage Fun – April Fools!

We’re featuring a jacket today made from a collection of modern quilting cottons which provided Rae with some scrappy selvage fun- April Fools appropriate!  When Rae was a girl learning to sew, her mother, along with every teacher she ever had, suggested that you should trim away the selvages after pre-washing your fabric before beginning to lay the pattern out.  It is true that in the 1950’s and 60’s selvages were often less than ideal and got all scrunched up after being washed. Similarly, some jersey knit yardage today can be distorted by the tightly knitted selvage edge so it is easier to lay out and cut a pattern if they have been trimmed away.

Rethink Selvage Edges

This project was a fun exercise in taking selvages and other scraps from three Tabby jackets Rae had already made and using them to decorate this fun Tabula Rasa Jacket. No fooling!  She will share her surprises and successes in her own words below.

I began this project with a large stack of scraps and fabrics from Domesticity Fabric and Sewing Studio.  They were very dependable partners while we were testing the sizing and pattern directions for the Tabby Jacket.  We made each of the owner’s adorable daughters a Tabby jacket in fabrics they chose from the store to test sizes.  Then it seemed like a good idea to make a Tabula Rasa Jacket for their mom, Christina, by adding some more colorful fabrics she chose into the mix.  This was a challenge – lots of different fabrics and colors to connect.  Ultimately I added a few black background fabrics, found at Capital Quilts, to use in the lower portion of the jacket .

Sometimes Chaos is the Most Fun

When there is chaos, adding additional chaos is sometimes the only answer.  I am not sure where this concept of stacking fabric into little strips of insertions came from, but it seemed to be the answer. It was an easy way to bring the small chunks of leftover fabric and the wonderful modern selvages into the project.  Because I was unsure about the results I did some testing, as usual, but mostly with the first strip created.  It needed to be long enough to insert as a sash down the center of each sleeve or down the front as a band.  

The fronts and backs had been sashed similarly but with only one fabric.  Selvage edges were inserted between the upper and lower portions of the jacket, too, for a fun design feature. This technique would be perfect as it combined both fabrics and techniques.

Because there were enough leftovers.  I pieced two long strips of this scrappy selvage design wide enough to cut a sleeve sash 1” wide and a band lining 2” wide from each. The strips were mostly seamed together but occasionally, if there was not enough fabric for two seam allowances, the selvage sides were carefully topstitched in place. This technique required the additional step of reinforcing some of the piecing seams after it had been cut to size, but it was time well spent.

The sleeve sash was cut, seams reinforced, and then inserted into the slit sleeve, first on one side then on the other.

The band lining was added after the outer band was attached to the center front opening. Then it was finished by the usual method.

For a final flourish, a strip of selvage that remained was cut to size and used to decorate the cuff of the jacket.  The selvage piece was stitched into place on the interfaced cuff, then pressed down and topstitched along the lower edge for an excellent effect.

Take a Look, Then Try it Yourself

Make the most of fun modern selvages often found in the Echino, Kokka, Ruby Star, and Art Gallery fabric collections.  We used this technique first when making the Echino Shirt and then the It’s a Spectacle Jacket.   Read more about this Scrappy Selvage Fun project and the actual jacket finishes in Sew Baltimore-Sew Collaborative post.  

Be sure to visit us in April at the Baltimore Heritage Quilt Expo April 26 and 27 at the Maryland State Fair Grounds.  Both Domesticity and Capital Quilts will have a booth at the show. Fit for Art we will be with Capital Quilts the entire weekend offering jacket sizing for both kids and adults and showing off all the jacket projects featured in our book Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets.  On Saturday we will be leading a conversation about repurposing a quilt into a jacket at 3PM.

Have A Scrappy Selvage Fun – April Fools, RAE