Choosing the correct fabric for your project may seem like an easy task - you just pick the one you fancy right? Wrong!! Choosing the incorrect fabric can make sewing and fitting your garment difficult or downright impossible. Now I’m normally not a colour inside the lines kind of a girl (I"ve been called contrary on occasion) but I will always admit the people who design the patterns know best. So if I’m told to use a chambray or a cotton type you better believe I’m using a cotton! So in order to choose correctly you must first understand what these names mean. I’m going to break them down into their types and styles as a pattern might suggest them and explain what they mean.
There are a few basic types of dress fabrics that you will come across again and again - particularly when reading the back of your pattern crepe or crepe de chine; cotton or chambray; sateen; taffetas; jacquards; satin/duchess satin and laces.
Gaberdines: Gaberdine is a tightly woven fabric usually interchangeable with lightweight wool blends. These fabrics work really well in suiting and trousers. If you want to imagine what they feel like think back to your school trousers or skirt. But fear not! There are all sorts of nice new versions that will frequently be labelled “suiting”.
Denims/Twills: Twills are fabrics woven a certain way so that the surface of the finished fabric has diagonal lines and the reverse is smooth. A denim is basically a type of twill made from cotton usually in that classic indigo blue but there’s many versions. Patterns that look for these type of fabrics are usually utility style garments or garments with a firm structure like boiler suits or jeans which these fabrics really lend themselves to.
Jersey: Jersey refers to any knitted fabric with stretch, they come in many weights from a light viscose jersey which usually drapes beautifully to heavier cotton sweatshirt style jerseys. Luckily your dress pattern will specify what type of jersey you need - some jerseys stretch in more and in more directions than others.
Ponte Roma: This is a double knit type of jersey which means for our purposes it’s usually slightly heavier and less drapey than other jerseys. This makes it easier to sew than most jerseys while still having good stretch and suitable for more structured garments.
Scuba: Scuba or Neoprene are again double knit fabrics though much heavier than ponte roma with a smoother surface, it can be used for sportswear but is increasingly being used for evening wear as it gives great structure and will hold its shape.
What do these mean and why do you pick one over another?
Chambray/Cotton types: This is usually taken to mean a cotton fabric that is not too thick with no stretch, these would be suitable for projects like shirts and dresses with some structure as they are not particularly flowy and so will not skim the body. Chambray is simply a cotton that is a woven mix of white and another colour. These are usually interchangeable with sateen (usually cotton with a smooth and shiny finish, not to be confused with satin) linen/linen types or seersucker which is a bumpy checked/striped cotton. So basically if you are told to use any of these fabrics what you are looking for is a cotton or linen fabric or even a mixed fibre that feels like cotton or linen but it should be non-stretch and relatively stiff. These are probably the easiest types of fabric to sew with and so are great for beginners projects.
Gaberdines: Gaberdine is a tightly woven fabric usually interchangeable with lightweight wool blends. These fabrics work really well in suiting and trousers. If you want to imagine what they feel like think back to your school trousers or skirt. But fear not! There are all sorts of nice new versions that will frequently be labelled “suiting”.
Denims/Twills: Twills are fabrics woven a certain way so that the surface of the finished fabric has diagonal lines and the reverse is smooth. A denim is basically a type of twill made from cotton usually in that classic indigo blue but there’s many versions. Patterns that look for these type of fabrics are usually utility style garments or garments with a firm structure like boiler suits or jeans which these fabrics really lend themselves to.
Jersey: Jersey refers to any knitted fabric with stretch, they come in many weights from a light viscose jersey which usually drapes beautifully to heavier cotton sweatshirt style jerseys. Luckily your dress pattern will specify what type of jersey you need - some jerseys stretch in more and in more directions than others.
Ponte Roma: This is a double knit type of jersey which means for our purposes it’s usually slightly heavier and less drapey than other jerseys. This makes it easier to sew than most jerseys while still having good stretch and suitable for more structured garments.
Scuba: Scuba or Neoprene are again double knit fabrics though much heavier than ponte roma with a smoother surface, it can be used for sportswear but is increasingly being used for evening wear as it gives great structure and will hold its shape.
