Anita’s Wonderland | Choosing Fabric & Colors
Anita’s Wonderland | Overview Anita’s Choosing fabric for a project can be either the most fun or the most
challenging part of the design process. With Anita’s Wonderland, we
chose a soft winter color palette for our fabric with creamy whites,
shades of blue, and tan and brown accents. We used Robison Anton
threads because they have a soft look without as much sheen as other
embroidery thread brands. We have created some tips for choosing
fabric and thread colors that will hopefully make this process fun and
easy!
The Fabric Method
You can use fabric to choose thread colors for your designs. Simply
choose a beautiful piece of fabric then match the thread colors to the
colors of the fabric. This method works great on both embroidery and
quilting designs. If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Fabric
is designed by experienced color artists. So, let those experienced
color artists help you. Using this method, the fabric used as part of your
project or appliqué will have perfectly matched colors. For those of
you who love appliqué, this technique works two-fold. By using fabric
to choose your colors, the thread colors will pleasantly blend with the
fabric and the design itself.
The Trim Method
Have you ever tried to buy trim to coordinate with a project after you
have already embroidered it? It is almost impossible. However, if you
buy the trim first, then use the trim to choose coordinating thread
colors, the resulting design will match perfectly. This process works
great for embroidered towels and tea towels.
The Quilting Method
As you know, quilts have a number of different fabrics in them and
usually follow a theme. We love fat quarter bundles and jelly roll strip
packs because they give a sample of several coordinating fabrics to
choose from for your quilt. Start with a fat quarter bundle, then choose
a coordinating solid fabric for the quilt backgrounds. Use fat quarter
bundles to choose your thread colors by pulling thread colors that
match the fabric. Use this color theme to choose the thread colors
for all of the designs you are embroidering on the quilt. This way,
whichever design or fabrics you choose, all of the fabrics and threads
will coordinate perfectly giving you a beautiful, cohesive quilt design.
Color Story Method
Choosing fabric for one project is hard enough, but how do you
choose fabrics for multiple projects that all need to coordinate? Always
start with a neutral color as your base since the embroidery will stand
out better on a solid fabric. Then choose 3-5 coordinating prints. Don’t
be afraid of busy prints, just use those fabrics sparingly. Make sure
all of your thread colors match your fabrics, but don’t pick too many
different colors of thread or the theme will be lost. Once you have your
color story, use those colors for all of your projects.
The Thread Method
For this collection we used Mettler Silk Finish 50wt cotton thread. The
great thing about this thread is that it has a natural shine, is extremely
soft, and gives all your creations a fresh look. We chose to use this
because cotton thread is a little bit stronger than polyester thread
and softer. This makes it ideal for visible seams in your projects. The
lack of stretch in cotton thread also makes it ideal for quilting projects
because they won’t lose their shape. This thread is ideal for sewing
cotton and especially piecing and quilting since it is high-strength and
non-shrink.
Wonderland | Premium Collection | 98