How to Select Fabric

Shopping for fabric can seem so overwhelming. There are just so many choices, so many beautiful fabrics to choose from, so much to sew in so little time. But regardless of the type of sewing you're doing, whether it's garments sewing, whether it's quilting, whether it's home-dec sewing, there are certain tips to always keep in mind to choose quality fabric. First of all, always buy for use. Keep the end result in mind when you're shopping for fabric. First thing to do, check the back of your pattern. If you're doing garment sewing or a lot of your home-dec projects, the back of the pattern always has suggested fabrics for it. It tells you what fabrics will work best with this particular pattern, and it's usually just above the measurements and fabric requirements or else just below in most cases, that's where you'll usually find it on the pattern. Take a read through because it will save you time and frustration. For instance, if it is a pattern that is designed for a knit and you use a woven fabric on it, you won't have enough give or stretch in that particular item. Likewise, if it's supposed to be a woven fabric, which doesn't have as much stretch and use a knit, it will always look like it's stretched out or doesn't quite drape right. The right fabric is critical, so keep the end use in mind. I always tell people, for the most part, buy the best fabric you can afford, but the exception to that rule is, what is the length of use for this item? If I'm making a Halloween costume, let's say, for my three-year-old granddaughter, she's not gonna wear it again, it's gonna be a one and done use. So I may be able to go with less expensive fabric and save a little bit of money. But if I'm making an heirloom christening dress or something that I want to keep in the family for a long time, or I'm doing home-dec and I'm making curtains that I wanna hang in my house for at least five years or more, I don't wanna scrimp on fabric, I wanna have good quality fabric. So, the length of use is another consideration. A good rule of thumb, especially for children's clothes, is durability. You need durable fabric for children, so it's important to buy good quality. Also, if you're making clothes, for the most part, you're gonna want them to last a while, so look for durable, good quality fabric. Same for my quilters, you want that quilt to last for awhile through all the washings and the dragging back and forth in the car or whatever the quilt is being used for, you're putting a lot into it, a lot of time, money and effort, so buy good quality fabric. How do you buy good quality? How do you know it's good fabric? One, you can, for the most part, trust the brands, if it's from a major manufacturer. Two, trust your hands and eyes, that's the biggest thing. You want to actually feel that fabric on the bolt. That's hard to do if you're buying online. Hopefully online you're working with a good dealership and sometimes they'll let you return the fabric if you aren't happy with it or if you know the quality of their other fabrics, you're usually pretty safe. But I still am old school, I like to feel my fabric. Does it feel good in my hand? Is it soft for the type of fabric? Does it have a good soft feel or is it scratchy? Does it drape nicely? Does it have a good hang or is it just sharp and standing at attention when I wanted something that's just going to flow with my body? Those are the kinds of things you need to look for. Rub it against itself. Does it flake? If it does, that means it probably has sizing and you're fixing a thin fabric. It's going to be not just an inexpensive fabric, it's going to be cheap. This might be a good example. It didn't have sizing in it, but as you look at it, just looking at it, the lines of the fibers as they were woven, threads are very, very visible, it's a low thread count. The other way to check it is with your eyes. Hold it up, can you see through it? That means it's gonna wear out very, very quickly. So it might not be good for shirting, particularly a man's shirt or for the children's clothing that you want to last for a while. If you're a quilter, it's gonna wear out from all the washings and your quilt won't last as long. So again, do the hand and eye test. Another thing I like to tell people to do, especially my sewers, crunch it. Ball it up in your hand. How badly does it wrinkle? Obviously, cottons are going to wrinkle more, but there are certain garment fabric that we buy that shouldn't wrinkle to the point that it's just, oh my gosh, it's gonna take me hours to press it. So look at the wrinkle factor because it will make a difference in the care of the garment and how happy you are with it. If it's doing this now, when you wear that garment, especially on a hot summer day and you go sit in the car, you're going to emerge at your destination looking totally wrinkled instead of looking crisp and professional. Does the fabric have substance for the type of fabric that it is? Does it have substance? Does it feel like it was made well? Then I want you to check the design. The best way to do this is to look at the crosswise grain. These are the salvages, they're woven tightly, woven very tight, that's a salvage. And then going perpendicular to it is your crosswise grain. As you look at this particular fabric, I have to open it up to show you. This fabric is printed off, it goes out to nothing. And the reason I can tell this, you cannot tell it, let's go to the other end, if your quilt store or your fabric store cuts the fabric, you may not be able to tell. Because a lot of times the clerks will just cut along the line and you think it's straight. The way to tell, is you snip the edge of the fabric and you actually, whoops, you actually rip the fabric. Now you've got a ripped edge, because the fabric will only rip on the strait of grain. So now, if that design does not line up along that straight of grain fabric, don't use it. Now, you can't just go ripping it in the store, but you can eyeball it and get a good feel for if it was printed straight or not. The reason I tell you don't use it, is because if it is not printed on the grain, it will never hang right on your body, or it will not hang right off the curtain rod, or it will not lie flat if it's a quilt. Don't even mess with it, it is not worth it. Go for quality. The other thing to check particularly on fleece, is how clear and crisp are the designs, how clear and crisp are the lines. This is true on any fabric, but especially fleece. You want to make sure that it got a good printing because that's what you're gonna be seeing for the rest of the life of that particular project. So again, go for quality, a bargain isn't always a bargain. You're putting time, effort and money into your sewing or your quilting and it is an investment. So good fabric saves frustration, and it always will look professional when you're finished. So keep these tips in mind as you go shopping, and I think it will take a lot of the confusion out of your fabric selection.