We hope you have seen the current issue of Threads Magazine (Summer issue 2025, number 230, pp. 28-35) and enjoyed the beautiful stacked sheer top and accompanying article Rae used to feature the Carpe Diem Pattern. The concept and collage for this weightless top represents stacked sheers inspired by Pinterest. Rae made the top for Carrie; read on as she tells you about the inspiration for and technicalities of stacking the sheer fabrics to create the collage panels. Pick up a copy of Threads and check out our blog post Peplum Tops from Carpe Diem to read about the garment’s shape and structure.
Scenes from nature are often created in fabric prints or garment embellishment. Flowers have been one of my favorite embellishments for years, but when I landed on the beautiful aqua, semi-sheer print as the garment fabric for this study in stacked sheers, Carrie and I decided to expand my repertoire. When Carrie is not sewing, she can be found on a warm weather vacation at an exotic ocean, scuba diving with her family.
Inspired by fabric and visual images
For inspiration, I began pinning some fiber art inspirations for undersea scenes, some of which are shown here, on a private Pinterest inspiration board.
In the meantime, I began collecting fabrics from my stash to use in the design. Looking closely at the print garment fabric, there were some fun colors lurking in the sidelines, like mustard yellow and red wine. Fortunately, there was some hand-dyed lace in each of these colors in my stash.
The inspirations were shared with Carrie and she chose some preferred directions, like seahorses, one of which is the dominant design in the front collage. Because there was a poly georgette print in the right colors that had jelly fish easily cut into motifs, they became the central feature in the back collage.
With a due date of early February, I began the collage design in advance of the busy holiday season. A small composition of line drawings on the internet inspired the front collage. I blew up a drawing with a seahorse to create a pattern to use when cutting the pretty printed Swiss cotton damask. (I tried to make one freehand, just looking at the drawing, but that was a disaster!) After the holidays I cleared space to create the collage sections and then stitch up the tops.
It is easiest for me to build these pieces on felt mats where I can simply stab design elements onto the background, which was a layer of the sari fabric that lined the garment and provided a gold edge along the neckline, and a layer of blue/aqua organza. The organza selvage edge was aligned along the bottom edge of the gold trim and the two layers were basted together.
One collage was built at a time with a big mess of materials surrounding the composition. It was fun to incorporate: lace from an old hankie, prints from some interesting poly sheers, cotton voile from a halter dress I sewed in my teens, and some new colors of tulle and organza.
When each collage was considered complete, I checked on them for several days, moving things around bit by bit until it was time to hand stitch all the elements to the background, then cover them with their overlay as seen in the photo with the fashion fabric next to it, above.
This is the most intricate stacked sheers inspired by Pinterest project in my repertoire so far, but it will not be my last. During the pandemic, I took a class in stacked sheer natural scenes from TextileArtists.org and hope to turn my sample into a pouch someday.
Check out the Stacked Sheer Inspo Board on Pinterest for more garment design ideas. There are some very fun ideas for your viewing pleasure on all of our Inspo Boards. In my Stash Busting Fashion Piecing class at Road2VA in June, this collage technique will be looked at closely.
Please support Threads magazine with a subscription to either the online or print issue. This is one of the only sewing magazines remaining in the US that features garment sewing prominently in its pages, as it has for over 38 years. Threads has inspired many garments that we have made and decorated. What has Threads magazine inspired you to try sewing?
Happy Hot Weather Sewing, RAE
