When I started sewing, I thought any fabric meant the same thing. I would select the most beautiful role and proceed with my work without thinking about the consequences of my outcome. Kind of like when I tried to sew a long summer dress and used an upholstery textile to do so.
The outcome? Let’s say I ended up wearing what looked like a cross between a decoration from my grandma’s room and a cross between a couch and a dress. So I now realize that fabrics play a huge role. But am not in Hell because of this mistake.
Pattern’s right fabric can sometimes feel like you are speed dating. All you want is someone or something that lives up to your expectations. After a series of mishaps and victorious moments, I’ve learned to concede that it’s a bit of both.
You can think of this guide as a set of instructions intended to help you become a ‘fashion mafia’ avoiding heartbreak when fixing stitches together. There is a wide variety of sewing patterns available from independent designers, offering diverse styles and sizes. Browse different sewing patterns to find the perfect match for your fabric.
1. My Take on Fabrics: They’re Just Like Friends
Fabric will make or break your garment. Choose wisely. Here are some classics:
Cotton: A tough, breathable textile best suited for daily or frequent use. Picture a couch but wrinkle-free and a fabric that has been hard worked upon.
Linen: Soft, breathable, and dry. It’s that friend who gets all comfy and bearing pressure gets a little wrinkly, but certainly pulls it together.
Wool: Sturdy yet warm but causes some nose scrubbing. Imagine that friend who is a little bit rough but always warms you up when winter gets harsh.
Silk: Smooth yet requires a lot of effort to maintain, luxurious is the best word. Silk would hire a person to wash it. It starts the day with brunch enjoying sips of champagne.
Polyester: Tough to steam iron and does not get wrinkled. It’s as good as fabric goes, but it is hard to breathe when it gets warm.
Pro Tip: Being overly dependent on images, you end up buying a fabric that is out of your budget range then I encourage you to be that weird guy at the fabric store to feel them all. After all, you won’t have to order horrible fabrics online.
2. How I Learned to Master Weight, Drape, and Stretch in Sewing
It is important to know your fabric well before you grab it, as fabric tends to be needy and has characteristics. Adding multiple items to your cart can also help you take advantage of promotional offers, such as buy two patterns and get one free.
Weight: The assumptions can be rather harmful and embarrassing, so only lightweight fabrics go with blouses and heavy fabrics go with coats.
Drape: When we speak of the pattern of a textile, the first element to consider is the fabric’s drape. Wear silk and rayon for flowy patterns, if your pattern is structured (hello, blazers), stiff fabrics like denim or canvas are your jam.
Stretch: Stretch fabrics (for example, spandex) are forgiving for body-hugging garments. Non-stretch fabrics? Perfect for loose fits—not so much with leggings. I once ignored stretch entirely and made leggings out of linen—it was a crime against fashion and mobility. I spent a whole day waddling like a penguin, which was funny for everyone but me.
3. I Finally Deciphered Pattern Envelopes (They’re Not Ancient Texts!)
Those pattern envelopes aren’t just for show, they are your road map to success. Dressmaking pattern envelopes are more than just a diagram of the style of clothing – they are used to help you depend on specific terms such as ‘lightweight’ or ‘heavyweight’ and thus help you in the fabric selection process. See symbols like:
Arrows: Fabric grain direction. Follow it—or your garment might twist in weird, sad ways.
Shaded areas: Arrows point out areas where you will need to insert linings, interfacing, and extra bits that you may want to get rid of.
Fabric key: Fabric abbreviations are always used commercially and therefore the abbreviation should always be noted. For example, wool = W, silk = S, I once glanced over this and changed silk to a stiff canvas; Suffice it to say, the result wasn’t delicate.
When in doubt, grab that pattern and take it to the store with you, they always help, and then you ask, “What do you require” and they go, “Uhhh”.
4. Fabric Alternatives: Getting Creative with My Choices
Can’t get the exact fabric needed for the design you were given? Don’t worry, here is how to find substitutes:
- First aim to match the weight and the drape. For example, if the design says chiffon, it does not mean you get denim which is absolutely ridiculous.
- Fiber content still needs to be preserved. If there’s a chance of replacing silk with polyester, then please do so as long as the rest is similar.
- Go for swatches. It never hurts to get small portions and see how they will act.
I remember once I had to use a lightweight cotton voile instead of chiffon and I was able to use it for a summery blouse as a working breeze. You can also receive a free pattern when you buy two by adding three patterns to your cart and using the discount code.
5. Shopping for Fabric: My Online vs. In-Store Adventures
For many, hunting and even fabric shopping can be hard, just have a strategy in mind:
Understand your task at hand, and remember to take with you the specs and the drawing of the pattern.
For every in-store visit, make sure to rub, stretch, and drape the fabric to see how much of it you’ll need, if you’re shopping online go ahead and order swatches instead.
Stretch your fingers and cross them for online shopping as you will be checking every review but in person be on the lookout for holes or stains.
Fabric collecting is a real thing and so is hoarding, remember to wait for the right sale to strike or the temptation might lead to spending less. Also, remember to add items to your cart to qualify for promotional offers.
Mischievous fabrics can be deceptive. For example, knits snapping back and forth can mean a different thing than expected, do I need to explain more? Which as many would say skips a hanging Monday.
6. Why I Always Pre-Wash Fabric Before Sewing
A piece of wise advice, do a pre-wash on your fabric because the second you put it on beforehand and wash it after, it will likely shrink to the size of a Barbie doll, and trust me, no one wants that disaster ever occurring. So a good rule is to always wash your clothing before actually wearing or using them.
Read care labels: Pay attention to care labels. Things like “Delicates” require cold water and to be air dried.
Test swatches: If you feel uneasy like me, make sure to take a small piece and do a wash. Hence this would allow you to test swatches.
Treat the fabric like the finished garment: Otherwise don’t do this step unless you want to be surprised (for the better or worse).
7. Conquering Tricky Fabrics: My Journey with Velvet and More
Silk is slippery. A heads up, all fabrics, that include, certain materials have a snag that require to be taken care of, in such a case if you want them appearing messy definitely do not make it a habit.
Diving into the main aspect:
- If you have fine pins, use them while cutting the pieces, along with sharp needles.
- If you are looking for the pieces to look seamless, make sure all pieces have their nap in the same direction as there are plenty of requirements.
- Finally, sew while being relaxed and calm, deep breaths do help and wine doesn’t hurt either.
8. Test It Out, You Wont Portray Me Wrong
When the time comes to work on a complex piece of clothing, torso, tackling cheap fabric with practice boundaries is highly recommended as it saves the trouble of having a crying or major tantrum stance which in turn is efficient money wise which when you get onto the main clothes piece the practices eases the event effectively.
Fabric Should Be An Asset to Your Project
Not only is the fabric a canvas for you but the fabric is also associated with crime when it comes to some magical creation. For instance, with a focus on the properties of the fabric and the pattern pairing, if you are sewing a summer dress or a winter coat, the fabric pairing makes all the difference. Follow the routine, feel the fabric, and just pre-wash it.
With the perfect fabric at hand, a pattern has the potential to be artistically crushed. Heck, even if you find yourself on the losing side of things, you’re still winning because you have gained knowledge (if not created a pillow cover after failing at sewing a sundress). Now, sew with confidence because you can do it.
