{"id":59,"date":"2009-07-20T15:58:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-20T19:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oliverands.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/principles-of-fabric-selection-solid-colors-and-neutrals-can-ground-a-bright-busy-print\/"},"modified":"2018-11-28T10:54:07","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T15:54:07","slug":"principles-of-fabric-selection-solid-colors-and-neutrals-can-ground-a-bright-busy-print","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/07\/principles-of-fabric-selection-solid-colors-and-neutrals-can-ground-a-bright-busy-print.html","title":{"rendered":"principles of fabric selection: solid colors and neutrals can ground a bright, busy print"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s say you find a print you really love, but you’re a little nervous about using it for a child’s garment. Maybe it’s a large, bold print. Maybe it’s very bright or multi-colored. Maybe it’s both. You’re afraid that by using the print you’ll break the first of our principles of fabric selection–see the child before the outfit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You don’t necessarily need to shy away from bright, bold prints. You just need to be sure you don’t overdo it. One way to do this is to ground them with coordinating solids or neutrals. It’s very much the same reason that blue jeans go with everything. They’re neutral, and they’re an excellent base from which to start building an outfit.<\/p>\n

This is an easy principle that many people instinctively follow. There are many more excellent examples of this in the Oliver + S Flickr group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>By selecting a solid color that ties back to the print, this dress<\/a> looks beautifully coordinated without being too busy or bold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> A solid brown yoke helps to tone down this over-sized and colorful zigzag print<\/a> on the Swingset Tunic<\/a>. By grounding the bold print with the neutral solid, the creator of this garment has taken a very busy, potentially overwhelming, print and made it perfectly appropriate for a child’s top.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Notice how this seamstress<\/a> has paired a large Amy Butler floral print with a dark solid. I especially like how the yoke of this dress picks up the neutral tones in the print. A solid pink yoke would have been too much for this dress, but the neutral color makes it look especially elegant and sophisticated.<\/p>\n

These three garments teach a good lesson. You don’t need to be afraid of bold, bright prints and colors. You just need to be careful about not overusing them. And if you do decide to use one, make sure to ground it with a neutral or a solid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let’s say you find a print you really love, but you’re a little nervous about using it for a child’s garment. Maybe it’s a large, bold print. Maybe it’s very bright or multi-colored. Maybe it’s both. You’re afraid that by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-principles-of-fabric-selection"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/aleksandra-785069.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/06\/principles-of-fabric-selection-look-at-the-supporting-fabrics-in-a-collection-not-necessarily-the-central-prints.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":0},"title":"principles of fabric selection: look at the supporting fabrics in a collection, not necessarily the central prints","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"June 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As a rule, most quilting fabric collections are comprised of a group of prints that are intended to work together. There is a formula to assembling a collection like this, and most groups work around one central print that holds the collection together. That print is usually larger in scale\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/1-710302.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/06\/principles-of-fabric-selection-think-sophisticated-and-understated.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":1},"title":"principles of fabric selection: think sophisticated and understated","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"June 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I think this outfit is tremendously successful. I adore it. This 2 + 2 blouse and pleated skirt is understated and tremendously elegant while still wholly appropriate for a child. If you had run across these fabrics at your local quilt shop, would you have thought \"children's clothing\" when you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/brooke-753348.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/05\/principles-of-fabric-selection_22.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":2},"title":"principles of fabric selection: introduction","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"May 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Every season at Quilt Market, the show's organizers sponsor a series of Schoolhouse presentations for shop owners who are interested in learning more on topics of interest to them. This season, Oliver + S led two Schoolhouse sessions. One of our talks focused on how savvy retailers can increase sales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/fabric2-778396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/05\/principles-of-fabric-selection-see.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":3},"title":"principles of fabric selection: see the child before the outfit","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"May 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a professional designer. But when my daughter walks into a room wearing one of my designs I would much prefer to hear someone say, \u201cWhat a beautiful child,\u201d than \u201cWhat a beautiful dress.\u201d That preference sets the whole tone for the Oliver + S design philosophy, and it informs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/child-first-714100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2010\/01\/principles-of-fabric-selection-approach-juvenile-prints-with-caution.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":4},"title":"principles of fabric selection: approach juvenile prints with caution","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"January 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been dreading this blog post because it means we've come to the end of my Principles of Fabric Selection series. But I know many of you have been waiting to hear what I have to say on this topic, so here we go. Juvenile prints are a subset of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/owls-731303.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/11\/principles-of-fabric-selection-look-for-updated-versions-of-traditional-prints.html","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":5},"title":"principles of fabric selection: look for updated versions of traditional prints","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"November 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"When you read the words \"traditional print,\" do you think boring, dark, and dull?Actually, a lot of contemporary prints are based on traditional prints, and they aren't necessarily boring or dull at all. In fact many designers start their creative process by taking a traditional print and altering it in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/parrishplatz-731458.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67712,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/67712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}