Cotton Gauze

[Alexandra Johanna]

Since our home faire is Bristol in WI during the months of July and August, our temperatures hover between 80-90F. Most of the underclothes I see, particularly on faire workers, is made up of cotton gauze.  However, the only gauze I see at our local Joann is what I see labeled online as "crinkle gauze" or "bubble gauze".  After washing, it bunches and crinkles up something fierce.  But I bought some green gauze last year from fabric fashion club that was described as just "cotton gauze" and is a bit different. It is is much more flat and smooth, but still thin and breezy. I used it to make one of my skirts.

I'm wondering if there is a name for cotton gauze that is not "crinkle/bubble" gauze? I see some descriptions of "calcutta" gauze but it seems to have a diamond pattern to the weave and is described as thick gauze. If I look closely as my green skirt, I can vaguely make out what could be a diamondish look to the weave, but I wouldn't call this fabric thick at all.  It was much easier to work with than the bubble stuff and I'd like to find more of it in other colors.  I've attached a photo, but it doesn't show the weave. I don't have a camera that can take a decent macro shot.

Any guesses on how I can refine my search? Thank you!!!!!!

[Alexandra Johanna]

btw - the photo shows the skirt fabric after washing, no ironing, just hung on my dress form and draped on the table for the photo.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Try googling for cotton voile, orgndie, and Indian cotton muslin, which is not the thicker stuff we in the UK call calico.

[Alexandra Johanna]

Thanks Kate! I stopped by my local Joann's today and they did not even have any of the crinkle gauze in stock, so I will definitely need to be ordering. I did order some swatches from Vogue to see what theirs is like.

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Soulstice, you are being quite generous with the Bristol weather!   

Last summer, most of the time it was in the 90's and one time we were there, it got over 100 degree!  2011 was the hottest summer in the fifteen years we had been going to Bristol.  It was so hot, even several diehards went ungarbed some weekends, including me!  I wore 'danes 3 times, and one Sunday spent 3 hours sleeping in the air conditioned car because I was so ill from the heat.  And I always hydrate while at faire, it was just that it was too hot! 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Be careful with the heavier gauzes. There tends to be some Polyester as well. Be sure to read the fabric content on the ends of the Bolts just to make sure.

Wearing anything Polyester at Bristol is like wearing a Garbage bag when it's 90+ with high humidity to boot!

[Alexandra Johanna]

You're right Renee, I was being optimistic. LOL.  I only went twice last season due to a broken ankle, and both weekends were comfortable, warm but comfortable. The rest of the summer, I was indoors in the AC. Today was warm, and I heard 100+ this weekend already. I keep saying to my 15-year-old who hates hot weather... now imagine this in several layers of garb! We are mentally preparing. LOL

Good tip, Lady Kathleen! I always check and buy 100% cotton. Some of our heavier things are 100% raw silk because I like the texture when its washed and softened up. I just like the natural fabrics. 

I stopped by our local Joann's today and was dismayed to find no cotton gauze at all. Last year I could at least find white, natural, and black. This year, nothing. I asked at the counter and she said they don't stock much.  I would much rather see a nice array of colors in cotton gauze than all that polyester and lyrca print they currently have.

I ordered some swatches from Vogue to see exactly what sort of gauze then have, since they also sell by the bolt.

[Cilean]

Might I interject? I worked Faire for over 20 years, and I have to tell you? Invest in Linen, I worked in Southern and Northern Faires, on the planks that would show at 114 degrees, I thought cotton would be okay since everyone wore it, then I tried Linen.  If you suffer from the heat at all? Linen you will love!!! Cotton tends to trap the sweat not allowing evaporation which will cool you off, Linen does allow for wicking of the sweat so you will feel cooler.

Truly? I have spoken to a couple of the first merchants of clothing for Ren Faires, and the reason they picked bubble gauze or cotton gauze was the price for them.  It has no historical significance, Osnaberg was a cheaper alternative to linen in the past as well.

So for my suggestion for you? Don't waste the time for gauze and head to the linen!

Cilean

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

I just made my first linen dress and wore it to the OK Ren Faire on the day it was 96 degrees (the other days were 98 and 97!).

I just felt plain all over hot, even with the linen.  And when I got home and washed it, my reaction was "yikes"!

One of the things I really dislike is ironing.  And when this dress came out of the dryer, it had more wrinkles than anything I've owned in my life.  So I now know that every time I wear it, it has to be ironed!  And if you don't mind ironing, then this won't be a problem for you.  But to me, "iron" is a 4 letter word.

[Rani Zemirah]

Might I interject? I worked Faire for over 20 years, and I have to tell you? Invest in Linen, I worked in Southern and Northern Faires, on the planks that would show at 114 degrees, I thought cotton would be okay since everyone wore it, then I tried Linen.  If you suffer from the heat at all? Linen you will love!!! Cotton tends to trap the sweat not allowing evaporation which will cool you off, Linen does allow for wicking of the sweat so you will feel cooler.

Truly? I have spoken to a couple of the first merchants of clothing for Ren Faires, and the reason they picked bubble gauze or cotton gauze was the price for them.  It has no historical significance, Osnaberg was a cheaper alternative to linen in the past as well.

So for my suggestion for you? Don't waste the time for gauze and head to the linen!

Cilean

Cilean, it's very hard for me to read the font you're using at this size.  I had to hit the quote button to see it in the preview screen to make it out.  Maybe you could set the size up a little, next time?  


Lady Renee, I agree about linen.  It's a pain to iron, and it just wrinkles up as soon as you put it on.  I like the cotton gauze because it catches the breeze, and it seems to allow the air to pass through it.  Linen seems to be heavier most of the time, and in humid heat that is a major consideration.  Dry heat isn't too bad, but in sticky heat I want something thin and lightweight.  

[isabelladangelo]

Tissue linen is lighter than most cottons.   It's what I use in the 90+F summer events.   Joann's carries a lovely linen/cotton tissue blend that is simply wonderful.  You might want to look into that.  BTW, wrinkles are period.  :-)

[Alexandra Johanna]

Ironing... well, let me just say the only iron I own used to be my grandmother's and she's been gone for 20+ years. The only use it has is for pressing fabrics before I cut patterns. Although I brought it out last week to flatten the straps on some new cotton summer tops, and I did check outside to see if pigs were indeed flying! lol

I did look over the linen at our Joann's yesterday, but this store must be severely lacking. It just didn't impress me and seemed heavier than I expected.  I'm not concerned with HA, everything we do is more in the fantasy realm, with comfort being high on our list of priorities, with budget coming in a close second.

Thanks for the all advice! Its much appreciated :-)

[raevyncait]

I use the quilters cottons in solids for chemises, and in the fun/funky prints for bloomers. They're lightweight, breathable, don't require an iron if I get them out of the dryer quickly, and they've done me very well for many years at Scarby (which can go from freezing cold to over 100 in the same season) and TRF.

http://www.joann.com/country-classic-cotton-solids-assorted-colors/prd10005/

I know that Miguel, of Don Juan & Miguel, wears shirts made of Kona Cotton
http://www.joann.com/kona-cotton-solids-assorted-colors/prd57239/

Both of these should be available at any Joann's with a reasonably sized fabric section.

[lady serena]

I use to get a 100% cotton fabric from my Walmart that looks like your type of fabric after its washed. It just said 100% homespun cotton on the cardboard flat that it was on. They had it in deep red, navy blue, dark green and black. It is truly soft and light weight, most of my skirts and chemises and shirts are made from it. Best of all it was only $2 a yard! I couldn't pass it up. Now I have to wait and see when I go back up to Northern MN if the Walmart up there has any and buy more, we dont have fabric in the Walmart were we live now. Best of luck on the search.

P.S. I forgot they told me if I bought the whole bolt at a time they would see about getting other colors for me, worth checking on I guess.

[Alexandra Johanna]

I like the broadcloth cottons for making my husband's shirts, for the crispness on the collars and cuffs.  

Oh, the days of the $2 fabrics at Walmart! How I miss them! I used to have a whole route of visiting 6 area walmarts to raid their fabrics. But sadly, all of them in our area have gotten rid of the shelves of fabric bolts and have replaced them with prepacked single yards of quilting/craft fabric that hang on a rack.  Such a disappointment! I hope the trend hasn't reached your MN store!

Edit: Doing some searching online about Walmart and fabric... apparently there was a 2006 directive from corporate to get rid of the sewing departments in the stores. However, there are now reports dating between April 2011 to the current day that some Walmart stores are bringing the sewing/fabric departments back. Here's hoping those $2 fabrics come back as well!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Our Walmart in Galena never got rid of the fabrics.  And every time I am in the store, I pass by the $2 fabric table, which is always piled high with bolts of fabric.  Most of them not for faire use, but every once in a while, you can come across something that will work for a chemise or a skirt!

[PollyPoPo]

The new Super Wal-Mart (replaced a smaller Wal-Mart) in at least one small Texas town was in the process of closing the fabric department, but the ladies of the area actually protested in the parking lot, signs, TV reporters, etc.  Hey, antagonize those church ladies and you might as well not bother opening the store at all because you would have NO SHOPPERS.

The store opened with the fabric department and it's still there.  Just picked up, on clearance sale, some medium hue blue/white striped duck cloth that we're going to have made into piratey-type pants. 

[raevyncait]

The 3 WalMarts nearest me brought back their fabric departments, as did Waxahachie. It's not a huge selection, but it's reasonable.  I think that they figured out that those of us who don't live in a city with a nearby fabric store did spend enough to warrant the department.

[Lady L]

I have used both 100% cotton and linen. I prefer the cotton so much more. Historical is not a big issue for us, either. The cotton was more comfortable, even Sir R said he liked it more.

Our Wmart in MN had discontinued the fabric dept. several years ago. I complained, many people complained, but we weren't listened to at all. Just recently, they started to bring in some fabric. It isn't as big of a dept as it used to be... they don't have all the trims, bias tape in all the colors, they have limited buttons and elastic, but it's better than nothing. They only have Simp. pattern book and it's too high for me to look through it. I bought some black quilters cotton today, muslin and 6 yds of red with a gold stripe, which was $2.50 yd. R had to dig through other bolts to find the black, but they did have it. I thought about buying a cotton sheet, if they didn't have it. They also had a clearance shelf, but most of it was knits, fleece and kid's prints. I used to buy a LOT of $1.00 yd cotton gauze there, in many colors. I love it!

[Hoowil]

They are starting to bring the fabric departments back around here too. The one local store that didn't have it pulled is the only one with any real kind of selection though. I love the dollar bins, as I can get cotton of a workable weight, and use it for mock ups cheaper than muslin, and with closer characterstics to end projects. I'll get entire bolts just for that.

[Alexandra Johanna]

I dropped into our Joann's today again and really searched through the fabrics. I believe I found something very similar in weight and weave to the green gauze I love so much. It was labeled Batiste fabric. Very slightly sheer (much less so than the gauze from Vogue), very light and flowy, but sadly the bolt at Joann's was 65% cotton/35% polyester. So back on the shelf it went. But now I know what I'm looking for!  Thanks for all the help everyone, greatly appreciated!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Soulstice, I was just in our Walmart on Wednesday, and they had that color green and also beige on the closeout table.  It looked exactly the same, like gauze but not crinkly.  The reason I remember is I looked at the green and thought it would make a nice shirt for Steve.  I didn't buy it because he already has a green shirt.  I don't know what the fabric content is, but I can look the next time I go.

[Alexandra Johanna]

Thanks for looking Renee. I think we're going to go with the batiste from Vogue, just so I can order a whole bolt and dye as needed. The sample came yesterday and its very light and airy, should be wonderful in the heat!

[lys1022]

Just a note about linens:  they come in several weights, so if you had some linen clothing that seemed too heavy or hot, it may just be that you got clothing made with a heavier weight linen and just need a lighter one.  The lightest weight linen (sometimes called "handkerchief linen"), is so light and woven with such fine strands that it can be almost see-through.  That, of course, may be a little too light for some folks who may prefer a fabric that is a bit more opaque, but you can get a slightly heavier weight and still get the cooling effects of linen without the heavy feel.

Linen is pretty standard for participants here at Scarborough.  It is a comfortable, breathing fabric that wicks up sweat and helps keep you cool. 

I like to get mine from http://www.fabrics-store.com.  I've never gotten anything but top quality product from them, and if you're on their mailing list, they constantly send out notices of sales and so on.  One thing that I love is that they also have a sample card available with swatches of the various materials.  It's a great help for deciding on colors and weights.

Just some more information for anyone who is interested.

[Alexandra Johanna]

Thanks for the link. I just ordered a sample card of the light weight linen!