T­Shirt Color BlockingFitting the Fast & Easy way with...

PRINTED IN U.S.A.Copyright© 2014, Sure­Fit Designs™ Ranita Corporation, Eugene, Oregon. All rights reserved.

What fun! Color blocking is easy and super simple to design into your sewingpatterns. And you all know color blocking is back in fashion. But do you know whereand when it all began?It actually dates back in time to the Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis ‘Piet’ Mondrian (1872– 1944), one of the principal members of the Neoplasticism art movement. In late1919 he began producing grid­based paintings, for which he became so renowned,with many of the rectangles being filled with primary colors.

His works of art were a major inspiration for YvesSaint Laurent back in the 1960’s which lead to thecreation of Laurent’s famous ‘Mondrian Dresses’(which I remember well).

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Mondrian inspired block ­ Hendrike’s “Grid inPiet Mondrian Style”Wikimedia Commons

Color blocking is really easy to do. The following steps show you thebasic principles of color­blocking. The process has been applied to a T­Shirt using the Sure­Fit Designs™ Dress Kit (though you could alsodesign and sew T­Shirts from the Sure­Fit Designs™ Shirt Kit).

Here's an alternative for a diagonal colorblocked T­Shirt by Sure­Fit Design.

Diagonal colored blocked dress –modcloth.com

PRINTED IN U.S.A.Copyright© 2014, Sure­Fit Designs™ Ranita Corporation, Eugene, Oregon. All rights reserved.

Sure-Fit Designs™Fitting the Fast & Easy way with...

4. If you want any color blocking in the back of the T­Shirt repeat steps 1and 3 for your back bodice.

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3. Turn the pattern over (wrong side up) and trace again. Now you’vedrawn the opposite side of the pattern. Join them together at CF. Whencolor blocking it’s always best to see both the right and left side of theoriginal shape so that when you draw the cutting lines you’ll be able to seethe continuity of the design.

2. To remove the bust­fitting dart prior to designingthis T­Shirt, see the article T­Shirt Tactics that you’llfind in www.SFDLearningCenter.com in theArticle Library, #D.3 T­Shirt Tactics.

6. Though Mondrian generally used rectangles,our modern color blocking often featuresdiagonals. Here are three options. Since one ofthe chosen fabrics was striped, it also lent itself tograinline manipulation. You can see I’ve formed aright angle pattern with the stripes.

5. Now the fun begins. To help you decide where you'd like to draw the design lines makesure to download Sally Silhouette (front and back) and experiment with where you thinkyou’d like your divisions to be placed. To download your copy of Sally Silhouette, go to ­http://www.surefitdesigns.com/FreeStuff.html. You’ll find both Sally’s front and back.

Pattern Preparation:

1. Trace a working copy of your SFD Dress Kit bodice blueprint without seam allowances. Makesure you have attached the upper portion of your skirt pattern so that you have your correct widthfor your high and low hip circumferences.

Copyright© 2014, Sure­Fit Designs™ Ranita Corporation, Eugene, Oregon. All rights reserved. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

Fitting the Fast & Easy way with... Sure-Fit Designs™

10. To construct the T­shirt, first sew all sections of the front together thereby creating the whole front. Do the same with theback and sleeves if you have color­blocked those pieces as well.

11. Sew shoulders and side seams. Add the sleeve. Finish the neck and hem edges.

7. Before cutting majorsections apart, add matchingnotches on each cutting lineand a clearly markedgrainline.

8. Cut pattern apart ondesign lines. Add seamallowances to all cut edges.Add at least a 1” (2.5 cm)hem allowance or you mightchoose to finish the hem withribbing.

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9. If you want to color block the sleeve, use the same process.