One of my favorite ways to use quilt blocks in new ways is to use them in garments. Before I began quilting, my entry into sewing was through garment and home decor sewing. Being able to combine these two passions is amazing, and I love wearing the result of my quilting efforts! There is something special about selecting the perfect fabrics and creating quilt blocks specifically to make a garment that fits your vision. To help with your own textile transformation adventures, I will show my garment making process using a quilt block featured in several Sugarstone Quilt patterns, the Mended Broken Pot Quilt Block.
Select Your Designer Quilt Block
The Mended Broken Pot Block is an especially good one to use for making clothes and bags as it is simple to construct and is extremely versatile. The block also carries a deeper meaning – the same design in Kente cloth represents resilience and overcoming challenges. I feel this strength every time I wear one of the garments made featuring this block. Watch a tutorial on how to make the block below:
Select Your Garment Pattern
For my recent makes, I knew I wanted outerwear with large panels that would allow the quilted design to shine. The two patterns I went with were the Beachcomber Jacket from Laundry Basket Quilts, and the Nyla Jacket from Sew Creative Lounge. For selecting patterns to that work well with quilting, Bianca Springer’s work has been a great resource.
Shorter jackets have less room for intricate designs compared to longer coats like the Nyla Jacket. To maintain my intended design on the Beachcomber Jacket, I adjusted the block sizes down to fit the jacket pattern perfectly. For your garment, you may need to size the quilt block up or down to fit your desired look. Since the Mended Broken Pot Quilt block works with 2½ in strips, it’s easy to size it up or down based on how long or wide a surface area you have to work with.
Selecting the Fabrics
With the pattern in mind, I delved into my stash of Ankara fabrics from Ghana. While thinking of what to use for these jackets, I was inspired by Ghanaian fashion design, which often combines Ankara prints with lace, cotton, or satin. To add contrast and enhance the colors, I used 2½-inch precut strips of Gelato Ombre from Maywood Studios. These tones added a playful touch to the jackets. If you use ankara prints in your blocks, I recommend mixing them with solid fabrics or patterns with subtle designs, pulling from the primary colors in the ankara prints. This allows for the colors to harmoniously blend while the prints beautifully stand out.
Sew Your Quilt Blocks
Once you’ve decided the block and the garment pattern, the next step is construct the units and to start piecing! One option is to piece together a large section like a quilt top and cut the jacket pattern pieces from it. However, I pieced each section individually, creating unique front and back looks for my Mended Broken Pot jacket. For my daughter’s jacket, I used varied sleeve colors and different designs on the front and back. From there, cut out your garment pattern pieces like normal, treating your pieced blocks like a single piece of fabric.
Finish Your Garment
Once your pieces are cut, from here you can follow the pattern instructions like normal and assemble your garment. Some patterns give you the option of quilting the garment. Whether you choose a domestic or longarm machine for quilting, your choice can make a significant difference in the final look. The smaller size of garment and bags makes domestic machine quilting a lot more feasible! For the shorter jackets, I chose to have them long arm quilted and then assembled. For the Nyala jacket, I chose not to quilt the garment but did line it.
Resources For Future Fashions
Inspired to make your own quilted garment? Here are some resources:
- Watch the tutorial or get the written block pattern! If you already own the Cradle Joy, Healed Pathways, or Calming the Storm quilt patterns, the block instructions are there as well.
- Sandra Lee, Bianca Springer, and Lorena UriARTe are some amazing sewists/quilters for quilt garment inspiration.
- All Sugarstone Quilt patterns have blocks that would work great for garments. Try using the 3:1 ratio quilt blocks in Together We Go Far, or the modified off-centered log cabin blocks from Love Nest!
Have you ever made a garment using quilt blocks? Let me know how it went in the comments! Be sure to subscribe to our email updates for the latest from Sugarstone Quilts.
Thanks for reading and Happy Quilting!
Maggie
Leave a Reply