Torrence’s “Checkerboard Cinerama” quilt.
Lorraine Torrence runs her businesses, Grainline Gear and Lorraine Torrence Designs, out of an office on Williamson Street. But you’d be forgiven if you’ve never heard of her before; she’s a recent transplant from the West Coast.
Torrence designs and sells jackets, vests, shirts and pants, as well as patterns for clothing and quilts, kits and books. With Grainline Gear, she curates designs from other artists. Her eponymous clothing label features her beautifully quilted works.
“Making quilts and doing art to wear is not just a grandmother’s project,” says Torrence, noting that quilting has outgrown its reputation as a staid tradition and is an art form in its own right. Innovative designs, hand-dyed fabrics: There’s a whole new world of textile art to be discovered.
“Urban Treasures” jacket.
Torrence nurtured her interest in quilting while earning her undergraduate degree in art. During college, she sewed costumes for the theater department, as well as wedding dresses to help pay her way through school. She has also drawn on her graduate study of sculpture.
Garments are three-dimensional, says Torrence. “People turn and walk and show different sides of that piece of art.” Designing clothing that cooperates with the movements of the person wearing it demands the same strong sense of three-dimensional space that sculpting does.
While Torrence divides her attention among many projects — pattern sales, her own sewing, and writing books — her favorite work is teaching. She’s taught workshops around the country and world, from France to New Zealand.
On May 31, students in her most recent Creative Clothing class, taught at Gayfeather Fabrics, will present a fashion show at the Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St.
In June and July, she’ll be teaching quilt seminars in Browntown, Wis., and in July, quilt design classes at Millhouse Quilts in Waunakee.
Torrence has a number of other projects on the horizon. She plans to release a new pattern soon, and has another new quilting design book percolating.
Torrence’s wearable art, patterns, kits and class schedule are all found at LorraineTorrence.com. Her patterns are also for sale at Gayfeather Fabrics, 1521 Williamson St. She will also exhibit at the Madison Quilt Expo in September, where she’ll be on hand to talk about trends in quilt design.
Lorraine Torrence Designs LorraineTorrence.com
