In case you’ve forgotten what a classic, woven houndstooth looks like after seeing all the printed variations this week, here it is. Of course *classic* classic houndstooth is black & white. The green & cream houndstooth above is a wool piece from ZinniaSnipSnap on Etsy. I’m starting to think of houndstooth as a diagonal space [...]
I guess you could call this an abstracted houndstooth? It’s not a tessellation at all but it seems derived from them. I love this kind of spare geometric design — I’ve been into Peter Nencini and the iPhone game Eliss lately and this reminds me of them. It’s from Vintage Touch on Etsy. The just-short-of-2-yard-piece [...]
Vintage feedsack floral on houndstooth background, from Dewitt & Co. (sold out).
How fortuitous! The same print in two colorways — the top one is on eBay now and+bottom one is from Retrolabs on Etsy. The trouble with this print in particular and houndstooth-esque designs in general is that they are thisclose to looking like swastikas. Which is not their fault of course, and +it’s not even [...]
Sheer gray & black houndstooth from Etsy shop In With the Old Vintage, 33″ wide, 1 yard, $7.
Like I wrote last week, trying to figure out what does and doesn’t qualify as a tessellation kind of made my brain hurt. But I *think* houndstooth qualifies, and there are so many vintage houndstooth prints (mimicking the classic weave pattern) that I found I could extend our pattern types series another week. Above: Checkered [...]
Here is the same kind of pattern as yesterday’s, only rendered more graphically in bold solid colors. It’s from Retro Age Vintage Fabrics (shop) on Flickr.
Rainbow spools feedsack, 9″ square piece, from Nauvoo Quilt Co. on Etsy.
This one wins the award for the most awesomely wordy selvedge ever: “Pace Setter Fabrics, Keyed to Today’s Living by Payne, No. 79620 Tangerine, CUBED SQUARES, 47/50″ Approx. 12″ repeat, 100% Flax, Dry Clean, Exclusive Payne & Company Hand Print, Part of Sophisticate Selections.” From Etsy seller Humlie Scute, 43 1/2″ x 25″, $42.
A tessellation (or tiling) is a repeating shape or collection of shapes that fit together with no gaps or overlapping. I’ve been trying to read about and understand the different types of tessellations and what does and does not qualify, but it’s making my brain hurt, so suffice it to say for our purposes here [...]
A tiny swatch from the collections of candyconnection22 on Flickr. Don’t click on the image unless you want to read a story that will make you faint with jealousy!
Not a hexagon, you say? Well, step back from the computer a bit, or blur your eyes — hexagons are all I see. This underscores the importance of negative space. I think the effect is cool in this case, but in designing repeats (and anything else for that matter) you really have to pay attention [...]
An awesomely loud hexagon cheater print from the enviable collection of kimmymade (shop | blog) on Flickr.
Little star-shaped flowers form the hexagon grid in this feedsack from the collection of cluttershop on Flickr. Here is Ms. Cluttershop’s interview, in case you missed it. Hmmm … about time to do another vintage fabric collector series, what do you say?
The Daily Swatch features a piece of vintage fabric (almost) every day. Themes change periodically — right now we’re in the midst of a series on pattern types. So far we’ve covered block and half-drop, diamonds, and bricks, and ogees. We’d love to see your own fabrics relating to the theme in the True Up [...]
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