If you’ve ever dreamed of mixing and matching prints, patterns, and textures in a single look or throughout your wardrobe, browsing our collection of Japanese imports is a fantastic place to start! Mainly cottons and linens, these fine woven fabrics come to us directly from Japan, where they’re produced in small batches. Whether you prefer textured solids, geometric compositions, novelty prints, or modern designs based on traditional motifs, this collection is filled with amazing finds to help you create a unique look!
There are so many possibilities for bringing prints and patterns together; today we’re going to share a few ideas to get you started. In this first group we’re gathering fabrics with similarities in color and tone; we’re including polka dots in the same color palette but drastically different scales, and the floral print adds a bit of contrast.
You can also experiment with mixing and matching different supporting fabrics with a central fabric that contains colors from all the rest. In the group below, prints with different style, scale, and intensity are unified by the ornate Ogee Design pattern, which includes colors from each.
This group includes a central paisley print with two supporting fabrics. The red wrinkle dobby is a solid color with a woven pattern that adds visual and textural interest to the trio, while the dark red print can act like a solid or as a print, depending on what it is paired with.
Here we have a group of fabrics with blue as a common color—one textured solid, a busy floral, and a more subtle geometric print. You can experiment with pairing fabrics in the same color family, seeing what happens when you add fabrics with different varieties of tones within the limited palette.
You’ve found your dream fabric, now what will you make with it? For lighter-weight fabrics like double gauze, sheeting, and lawn, choose a simple shirt pattern that will let your unique fabric take center stage—we like tops like the Donny Shirt, the Bonnie Woven Top, and The Clover. Lightweight fabrics can also make lovely dresses and skirts.
Fabric finds like canvas and dobby have a little more heft, making them excellent choices for tunics, skirts, and midweight pants. Dobby washes up nice and soft, so it’s perfect for the A-Line Midi Skirt and the Studio Tunic, while the architectural drape of a Japanese canvas adds structure to a classic mini like the Evelyn Skirt.
If you only have a little bit of special fabric to work with, you really can’t go wrong with making a custom bag! It’s a great opportunity to play around with pattern placement and choose a fun lining—make it totally your own. Start with patterns like the Town Bag and the Haralson Belt Bag, and find even more inspiration in our collection of bag & accessory patterns.
