When your favourite dress becomes old or outdated, what do you do? Probably, toss it in a corner of the cabinet. There may be so many such treasured tops, tees, scarves, trousers, and dresses. If you don’t have the heart to get rid of so many such choicest items in your wardrobe just because of a tear or a hole, there’s a quick fix. Patchwork is the new experiential solution to make an ordinary garment look stylish.
Initially, patches were only used for mending old coats. However, now distinguished artistry makes any ordinary garment look trendy. This fresh idea is the sole cause of the rising trend of patchwork clothing.
History Of Patchwork
The Egyptians first developed patchwork in 3400 BC. Since then, the design and trend have come a long way to become a trendsetter. During American colonisation, the patchwork design expanded to become a style statement. Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands also supported this expansion. The concept of adding patches to regular clothing was a necessity, which gradually became a trend. Using different patches of fabric on a garment created an accidental wild design in multiple colours.
Patchwork is different in various regions. For instance, the Hawaiian trend involves a patchwork of two or even more overlaid clothes of one size. Indian molas patchwork technique uses layers of lustrous coloured cloth.
Patchwork practice returned to the fashion hub in the 19th century, during the Victorian period when carriages had to be decorated with velvet and brocaded silk fabrics.
Until the 12th century, patchwork was only associated with quilts. It was on in 1911 that the first ever abstract art was applied to a bedspread, a handmade patchwork created by Sonia Delaunay, who was an artist in graphics, furnishing, painting, and fashion.
What Makes Patchwork Skirts So Popular?
Patchwork is a creative technique that involves several panels of spotted, printed, or patterned fabric. It resembles a printed trend than fabric. When printed fabrics are placed in a unique way to form patchwork designs, it imparts an innovative look to the dress. Multi-coloured patchwork dungarees are the best examples of such styles.
However, do not confuse patchwork with trends like print-on-print. Though the difference may not be immediately visible because of the canvas of shades and prints, these two styles are completely different.
Nonetheless, unlike prints in layers, patchwork prints can be stitched into one piece with a lot of creativity and an eye for design and detail. Different pieces of printed fabric, in multiple colours, can be put together, to create an eye-catching print. Whilst it might just look like an unmatched fabric, in reality, it involves a lot of thought to assemble different fabric pieces and turn them into something elegant, such as patchwork skirts. These garments are not only stylish but unique and exclusive too.
Creating New Pieces Of Garb From The Old
It is only rational to create some new and stylish garbs out of old and torn clothes. Patchwork encourages the recycling of garments to make them fashionable and vogue. In fact, the idea of patchwork was coined to utilize every inch of usable cloth to the optimum.
With the concept of patchwork in vogue, cities are now busy collecting worn and torn clothing. Only in America, do textiles weighing up to 11.1 million tonnes end up in the junkyard annually. In the UK, an estimated 1 million tonnes of garbs hit the landfill, and more than 50% of all the textiles are recyclable.
Patchwork Encourages Recycling
Patchwork is not just a form of art; it also contributes to the environment by encouraging the recycling of textiles. As a result, it provides innumerable environmental benefits. When existing textiles and fibres are re-used, no raw material like cotton, synthetic fibres, or wool is required. This saves a lot of energy usage and reduces pollution from manufacturing processes such as dyeing, washing, scouring, etc.
Patchwork matches all shapes and sizes, accentuating the garment. As there are no rules to sew patchwork and bring out the design, the fashion is usually aimless and messy. The chaotic interpretation of prints is a trendsetter worldwide, winning accolade.
Over time, patchwork became a mainstream fashion, winning brands and catwalks with multi-material clothing using tweed, tartan, and leather. Today, patchwork dungarees are a hot favourite amongst the youth. Some big brands have also showcased patchwork designs in their designer outfits in an attempt to match the ongoing trend.
Tribal patchwork and geometrical prints are vogues. Limitless options in this somewhat unorganized trend can give plenty of options to fashion lovers. A single outfit can be created from a sheer range of metallic studs, mesh, ruffles, pleats, embroidery, and leather.
Wrapping Up
Today, the popularity of patchwork has skyrocketed and reached several international shows and catwalks. Patchwork skirts, dungarees, casual shirts, dresses, pants, ties, coats, shorts, stoles, scarves, and tie-dye skirts, are a part of most designer stores.
