Attracted to Texture

I'm a bit of a texture freak when it comes to fabrics, whether making my own, buying textured fabrics, or simply admiring the work of others. There are so many ways to introduce texture into the fabric when designing knits; that's why I love designing them so much.

And I love when texture and garment work well together. A few weeks ago, when my Saratoga Rib was still in pre-production, I asked Debbie Iles of Lily Sage and Co, if she'd like to work with some of the fabric when it was ready. "Yes," she said. The photos (above and directly below) are of the amazing Megan Longline Cardigan that Debbie sewed with the Saratoga Rib. You can read about her experience with the fabric here.

All cardigan photos: Debbie Iles of Lily Sage and Co

Whenever I get to do an original fabric design, my thoughts are always how can I get MORE texture into this. That was the case when I added just another tuck loop to my new design building texture.

Other times a basic jacquard will become a rolling surface of ripples. Never mind that a really thick fabric might require special techniques when sewing. (If you're a machine knitter interested in ripples, please search "ripples" on my Knitting in the Fastlane machine knitting blog.)

I always enjoy seeing how others bring texture into their sewing and fabric projects. About a week ago after a failed attempt to attend a design and technology exhibit at Parsons School of Design, (The building was closed on the last day of the show?!) my husband and I were walking back down Fifth Ave and saw the announcement for Parsons School of Fashion Graduate Exhibition. Guess how we spent the next hour and a half? My favorite pieces had all the texture, of course.

Freeform embroidery and dye work in combination with the texture of felt to give amazing depth in this detail view of a top by Hae Yeon Shin.

Below is more embroidery with patchwork, this time from Olivia Burca.

Lots and lots of folds are worked into muslin by Mengtian Sui. I would have loved to have seen this one as a completed garment. I wonder how heavy it would be.

Anyone else drawn to textured fabrics? What special approaches do you use when sewing them?

O!
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Additions to the Natural, Color-Grown Cotton Line

Two new additions to the O! Jolly! natural, color-grown cotton collection are now in the shop and I'm so excited to show them to you! Pictured above is a textured sweater knit I've named Saratoga Rib. The fabric is ultra soft and feels seriously luxurious. The natural white cotton fiber was grown in California by farmers following growing practices of the Sustainable Cotton Project. The knitting mill in New Jersey did a beautiful job producing my design, full tucks and bumpy ribs.

Stripes! Yes, I've wanted to add some stripes to the collection for a little while. And what says spring and summer better than stripes! The yarn that makes light green stripes is color-grown green cotton (also from California farmers practicing sustainable growing methods). Color-grown means that the yarn has not been dyed. The white and green are the natural colors of the yarn. No dyes. No bleach.

And no mercerization! Mercerized cotton, also known as pearl or pearle cotton, is a conventional cotton that has undergone the very toxic process for added strength, luster, and more vivid colors. Sodium hydroxide is used at the beginning of the mercerization process. At the end of this process the cotton yarn or fabric is neutralized in acid. There's an excellent article on the process and history of mercerization byTom Beaudet on FiberArts.org. But this is not a process that the fabrics of my color-grown collection go through. (Sorry to say that I used mercerized yarns years ago for personal and custom fabrics, before I knew better.)

Getting back to the new Stripe Jersey, it's slightly lighter weight and has a bit more drape than the other natural jerseys in the shop. It's also special in that the width is approximately 72 inches. Many of you will be able to squeeze an entire sweater out of a yard. (As always, I recommend cutting flat through a single layer of fabric, not double-layered on the fold.) I personally plan on using the reverse side as my public side when I get around to making something. I just love the texture and the way the stripes look on this side. (See upper right corner of pic.)

Though not all the above mentioned fabrics are currently in stock, new sustainable fabrics will return in early 2020. Please join the email list to be kept up to date on sweater fabrics and other O! Jolly! news.

O!

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Last update 30Oct2019

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Behind the Scenes

Thursday evening I was fortunate to attend a talk given by Natalie Chanin at the Patagonia store in SoHo. Natalie Chanin, founder/designer of Alabama Chanin, appearing across the street from me? How could I miss this event? My regret was that I was unable to attend the hand sewing workshop held earlier that afternoon, with proceeds benefiting the Uprose organization in Brooklyn. The evening talk, a question and answer session hosted by Jill Dumain, Patagonia's Director of Environmental Strategy, covered the inextricable topics of fashion, textiles, business, sustainability, and life. It ended with an all too brief period of questions from the audience. All in all it was a wonderful peek behind the scenes of Alabama Chanin, a responsible design and lifestyle company.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes at O! Jolly!

I'm in the middle of production and I have to admit to being slightly anxious at the moment. This is the time between viewing my sample fabric at the mill and having the actual finished product in my hands. I'm very excited knowing that my knitting is in progress. But... I've got to wait for it.

In just a couple of weeks I'll be able to introduce two new sweater knits in the natural color-grown cotton line! It's been about a year since I first shipped my natural color-grown sweater knits. I'm thrilled to add a new textured knit in natural white (pictured above) and a new striped jersey in natural white and color grown light green (more about this new jersey in another post). So things are good! I'm just slightly impatient.

My process started a couple of months ago with the idea for a new design. I knew I wanted to make another fabric with the yarn I first used last spring. This natural cotton yarn, made with fiber from the Sustainable Cotton Project is soft and springy, not dyed and not mercerized. (It's seriously soft. Though I rarely hand knit and never hand knit ordinary cotton, I would really hand knit this cotton yarn. It's just that soft.) This year I wanted to produce a cotton fabric with more of a hand knit look, with lots of tuck stitches ("knit 2 below" as the hand knitters say), a little airy, and with a few baby knops for texture. Okay, lots of knops for texture. I imagine the perfect spring/summer cardigan.

Yes, that is indeed the fun part -- dreaming up the general design, notating and knitting the stitch pattern on my knitting machine with the help of some really fab software, and editing as necessary. Part of the first iteration of the design is pictured below.

My next step is to generate specs that are suitable to send the knitting mill. This particular fabric is being produced at Fleck Knitwear in nearby New Jersey. (See one of their Stoll knitting machines below.) What's fantastic about having the fabric made so close to home is that once the knitting machine is programmed and set up to knit my design, I can actually be at the mill as the machine begins to knit the fabric. I'm able to inspect the fabric as it's being knit. The owner/technician can make any adjustments, if necessary, and I can give my approval right there. And just that easily and quickly the knitting machine can continue to with the production fabric. This is immensely more efficient and preferable to waiting several weeks for a knit sample to arrive from halfway around the world.

Sometime soon the new O! Jolly! fabrics will arrive along with much yardage needed to replenish current inventory.

If you're not already on the email list and you'd like to get word of upcoming special sales, events, and other good things, please join the email list now.

O!