Picking the Right Fabric for Your Projects - Your Weekly Guide from SewingArtistry

Published: Fri, 02/26/21

Basic

February 26, 2021

I wrote this a couple of days ago, but since then I've have all sorts of fun things happen on my site - yes, site troubles again. Without a long to do about it, the bottom line is that if you respond to this email, it will bounce. Yes, it's a long story of how they can send out an email on an inactive email account, but there it is.

If you need to get me, you can always respond on one of my blogs, or on and of the social media links at the bottom of this email, and keep me in your good thoughts as I will need LOTS OF MEDICATION AFTER THIS!!!#$#^$%^^&**&^%$U@

So onward to something MUCH more fun!!!!

How to pick out fabrics to match your projects or designs? This is a constant question we as sewists ask. To be bluntly honest, the truth is that most of the time this comes from experience. But don't despair, because there are some clear guidelines.

First I need to talk about where we've been in fashion so that you have a clear idea about how woefully fashion has lended itself to helping the consumer in determining not only what fabric is good for what design, but in totally throwing out all the rules. That might make for a fun comment on fashion for a short period, but for thirty years? Really?

There are reasons for this, but first an example of what we are moving away from that has been the fashion kind for 30 years.

The idea here is that there is no fashion, no shape, no style, no flattering, no nothing. (Pardon the double negative - I meant it as an emphasis!) Either a huge glob of clothes that had no proportion or regulation on the amount of bulk, or showing just about everything - into the TMI (too much information) category.

So what does this have to do with choosing the correct fabric? The main thing is that when you have no proportion, no style, no line, no fashion, no flattery and no nothing, the you basically have no rules and you have no guidelines. Therefore you can use a bulky, heavy weight fabric to drape around the body, but it doesn't drape - it only sticks out. In the former fashion phase, that's what was wanted - the antithesis of any fit or any flattering look.

The upshot is that the consumer, and we sewists, even those of us who remember good fit and drape....

Here's the beauty of good design. This is a good sturdy wool jacket that's used in a garment that requires a lot of body - a jacket and coat. The pants are gabardine which means they have more drape and therefore aren't as stiff. The blouse is a silk which has very little weight but lots of stability. The end result - who wouldn't want to make this up and wear it. There's lots to draw from here. I think this is 1985 Jerry Hall on the Lagerfeld/Chanel runway.

And who wouldn't love making this up?

One of my first "looks" to get me hooked on

Where are the rules and guidelines for fashion inspirations?
Back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, drape, line and cut where king or queen, depending upon your designer. And that required knowledge of fabric. Today we are learning how to use the qualities of fabric all over again. The trouble comes from not having styles, fashions and editors/reporters who really don't know how to find good style from bad style; good drape from bad drape. With the last 30 years being a time of no style or line, how's a sewists to know what looks good?...what can make up a good look?...how to avoid a mistake in a bad look?

The best answer for this is going back to what we used as rules in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Fabrics had drape or body. Fabrics could be heavy or light-weight. Fabrics could have stability or looseness. And that meant that each look or garment type had a qualifying fabric type.

Some clothes required tailoring, some required drape. Some required flowing. Some required shaping. Working from 4 qualifiers, stable but lightweight, stable with body, flowing lightweight and flowing with weight, we can make a good start on how to work our way through most garments. This is not an end all guide, but it's a good place to start. It is also NOT a reflection of the last 30 years of fashion. This is more historical and at least a place to start.

To help qualify that - here's what I mean by these fabric types
Stable heavyweight - like a tweed that can be very thick, but can also be not too thin and responds beautifully to tailoring with horse-hair canvas. Tweeds, wools, Melton, thicker type fabrics
Stable light weight - Gabardines, really fine 100s or 200s wools with an extremely hard finish (smooth hand), but stable enough to be tailored in a very fine light weight jacket.
Flowing lightweight - Chiffon, gauze, pima cotton, voile often see-thru and used in large yardages.
Flowing heavyweight - handkerchief linen, linen blends, cotton pique, cotton seersucker. Can be used to tailor and shape.

Garment Type	Description of Garment Type	Fabric Type
Jacket	Usually tailored	Stable lightweight Stable heavyweight Flowing with weight (and some backing)
Blouse or Shirt - professional	More tailored	Flowing with weight Stable lightweight
Blouse or Shirt - casual	Looser	Flowing lightweight Stable lightweight
Pants	Woven pants require drape, and ease.	Stable lightweight Flowing heavyweight
Skirt-tailored	Requires a set line with no loose drape	Stable lightweight Stable heavyweight (but not coat weight)
Skirt	More of a fun, fuller, looser skirt	Flowing lightweight
Suit	Tailored	Stable heavyweight Stable lightweight
Coat	Purpose is to protect against the elements	Stable heavyweight Stable lightweight
Dress - formal	The more formal, the less ease	Stable lightweight Flowing heavyweight
Dress - cocktail	Less formal - usually short	Stable lightweight Flowing heavyweight Flowing lightweight
Dress - informal	Very Casual	Flowing lightweight Stable lightweight
Dress - office	Tailored professional looking	Stable lightweight Flowing heavyweight

This gets us through qualifying the fabric, but what about the design of the fabric? Print?...geometric design?...huge floral?...solid?...check?... woven patterned?

Unless you are experienced at matching prints and plaids, which can be done, this takes experience. But you can learn from designers.

These combinations have rules too. Using the Principles and Elements of Design with a Color Resource you can manage the combination of looks like these with a lot of fun. There are some prints that actually act as solids and there are others that require some extensive knowledge. Note above the use of stripes and checks. These sorts of patterns can almost be considered solids, while the wilder bolder print can be the show-stopper.

This is not the end-all chart or guidelines to get you through choosing your fabric

We sewists really are on the forefront of fashion.
Really, we are. We do not depend upon the reporting of the throngs of Instagramers (who often know less than nothing about fashion and good design), the store buyers (who are trying to figure out what will sell, whether it's good fashion or not), the designers (who are trying to make a statement so the fashion magazine will notice them) and the manufacturer (who simply wants to get the garment out as cheaply as possible). With the preponderance of online fashion stores, sampling from them and even calling them up to explain our project or design, there really is no end to the options open to we sewists, that the poor consumer can only dream of.

Here are the three resources separately so you can choose which one you want to use.

Inspiration - click here for more info - SALE $27.50

Who doesn't need this for the new year all full of ideas how! Index includes: The Creative Process, Typical Blocks (The Whys and Hows), The Artistic Process in the Real World, General Fears (And How to Deal With Them) and About Inspiration. These are all meant to help you understand the creative process but how to make this process work for you.

Time Management - click here for more info - SALE $35.50

Recent research on time management practices have shown that working 24/7 is not the most efficient way to use our time. But how do we get things done, particularly when we're on a schedule or a big project. This contains downloads, recent advances in time-management practices, and proven techniques to get your project done without a lot of stress about the time it will take!

Studio Design - click here for more info - SALE $27.50

Studio arrangement sounds like a bunch of hooey, but don't kid yourself. The tools that interior decorators and ancient practices use are there for a reason - they work! Here's a concise directory on how to arrange your work space so that it's efficient and conducive to creating and a productive environment! In here I include a lot of guides on how to set priorities in your arrangement, what to do with those priorities and how to make best use of the space you have.

And here's the original package:

Inspiration, Studio Design and Time Management. They all three key in really well with each other, and they are on a 21% discount for the first of 2021!

Click here for more information!

Enjoy!