Fabric Selection

[Lady Kett]

I would like to make an offering of Loki to the Sewing Goddesses (and Gods) in this forum.

I have a friend of mine who likes to sew who is making me a skirt, more or less according to this pattern (the one on the right, but not in plaid).



We are venturing to JoAnn's this weekend to shop for fabric. What would be a good choice? I know nothing about fabric really, and the only thing I've picked up here through osmosis is natural fabrics are good. Looking for machine washable, but other than that, completely clueless on what type of fabric I ought to be shopping for.

Thank you all so much, in advance. I love reading this forum even though sewing on a button is the most challenging sewing I've ever done in my life!

[lady serena]

Linen is a good choice if your friend doesn't mind working with it, Joann's has it in colors and plain tan. Otherwise I would say 100% cotton all the way if you can, stay away from synthetics. The best way for me to tell the synthetic stuff is its shininess and reading the top of the fabric holder. Other will chime in I'm sure, and I'm just a beginner sewer so I offer you what I have learned from what mistakes I have already made.

[gem]

I make all my skirts like that (I use a really similar Simplicity pattern) from cotton broadcloth, or poly-cotton broadcloth.  Cotton will be cooler, but you'll have to really iron it every time it comes out of the wash--and that's a lot of skirt to iron.  It comes in just about any color you could possibly want, which is another bonus.

I also love and adore linen (it's probably my very favorite fabric to work with), but for skirts like that I really prefer the broadcloth.

Have fun!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

I, too, am a button sew-er, and occasionally, hems.  I also hate to iron. 

Part of it depends on what you are trying to portray.  If you are going in peasant, pirate, or wench garb, then I agree with gem.  Anything you don't have to iron a lot.

If you are more noble, then you could go for velvet or brocade.

I have a green satin skirt, don't know if it's historically accurate, but it washes well, no ironing, and looks nice. Another fabric I bought for $1 a yard at Walmart, and my girlfriend sewed for me was a crinkle material, not gauze, don't know how to explain it, but it is nice and light and airy and when it's 100 degrees at Bristol, it's very cool.

[Lady L]

I like 100% cotton corduroy, in the narrow wale. Has a nice drape/weight to it, comes in lots of colors. I have used linen and twill, velveteen or no wale corduroy.

Yes, true Lorraine, you have to make sure what you buy is really linen. I also like linen/cotton blend, I wish I would have bought more of that back in 2000.

[Lorraine]

Just a warning, most of what is labeled "Linen" at Joann's isn't really linen, it's either a linen lookalike made from 100% polyester, or occasionally you can find a linen and cotton or polyester blend. The only way to tell is to follow lady serena's advice and read the fabric content on the label. I love the look of fine waled corduroy too on peasant/middle class garb, it's cheap, washable, and doesn't require ironing, plus it's 100% cotton. Plain cotton is always nice also, depends on the look you're going for. Good luck at the fabric store

[operafantomet]

Actually, for an outer skirt I don't think a synthetic fabric (or a blend) is that bad a choice.

If you were to make a whole dress or underpinnings, I would most certainly recommend a natural fibre. No question about it. But the skirt alone can be made of mostly any material, as it will not squeeze or stick to your bodice like underpinnings and bodices (for those pieces you need materials that breathes). I don't know how elaborate you want the skirt to be, but a solid upholstery fabric (which is often a mix of cotton and polyester, or solely synthetic fibres) could be very nice. If you choose a symmetrical pattern it will also give you a rather good historical look. I know the colours are really random, but look at these patterns:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Waverly-Bassett-Hall-Grass-650542-Upholstery-Fabric-5-y_W0QQitemZ330340342011QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4ce9d198fb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A6%7C294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/9Y-EXQUISITE-SCROLL-FLORAL-CHENILLE-UPHOLSTERY-FABRIC_W0QQitemZ140328959025QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ac41fc31&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A8%7C294%3A50

Other than that, a smooth and tight-weave wool will always behave well, and ditto for quality cotton and linen. Best of luck, and keep us updated!

[Lady Kett]

This is definitely for peasant, pirate, wench or maybe as daring as middle/merchant class sort of thing. Definitely not noble. I'm not ready for that much detail yet!

My daughter used to work at JoAnn's in the fabric department so she's given me basic instructions on how to read the label on the bolt of fabric. We always thought that sort of amusing because no one in our family can sew or is very crafty but it's turning out to have good info I can leech out of her now and again.

I will check out the broadcloth and corduroy options as the "no ironing" sounds quite appealing! I love the upholstery pattern potential but I'm not positive of the true level of my friend's sewing skill so I think I will save that for future reference and keep an eye out for sales and such on that angle. I'll also look at the linen but I've never had good luck with linen in my mundane wardrobe (of course, it could be that it's "not the real stuff" either).

Thank you so much for the suggestions!