Out of ages of necessity, comes the present creative hobby of sewing. The advances in the modern sewing machine have made sewing a practical expressive hobby with endless potential.
Modern sewing is blessed with amazing computerized creative machines with loads of convenience and productivity features. The possibilities have become almost endless. Whatever you can imagine, you can create. Clothing construction, home decorating, heirloom projects, crafts, quilting, embellishing, and embroidery have become so easy that millions are engaged in this expanding hobby.
Sewing is also blessed by the rich array of sewing threads, notions, and fabrics. Colors and textures are available today that could not even have been dreamed about when the sewing machine was first invented.
If you have ever hesitated when trying to make decisions, you might understand the one dilemma facing the modern sewer. The huge number of choices in fabrics can be quite a challenge. Here are a few tips on choosing the right fabric for your next project.
Tip One: Consider the advice available to you. Too often we try to make our own choices without considering what the experts say. You can save loads of frustration by asking experts, teachers, and trusted friends for their advice. Reading the backs of patterns can shortcut the decision making process. While all advice is not equal, you are still in control. Use your own common sense, after getting all the suggestions you need.
Tip Two: Consider Quality. If you think about your project, and how much time and effort you put into it; ask yourself what quality materials do you need? Rest assured there are differences in quality. Three bolts of fabric may look just alike, one may be junk, another may be good quality, and the third may be top quality. Durability, finished appearance, and ease of sewing can vary greatly based on the quality of the fabric.
Tip Three: Understand grades of fabric. Fabrics are produced by first producing greygoods or the base fabric. If this greygood piece is woven, you may have one fabric made of 20 count, another of 60 count, and another of 200 count. By count we refer to the number of threads per inch. Obviously, the more threads in the greygoods, the better the fabric will be. The same print, coloring, or finish can be applied to each of these varying qualities of fabric. If you sew a project with low end goods, it will not wear as well or retain its quality as long as better quality materials.
Tip Four: Learn how to identify quality in fabrics. Read books on fabrics. Take classes. Ask sewing educator about identifying quality. Price is not the only indicator. Generally, poorer quality goods will cost less, but prices do still vary. The key is identifying the real value of the fabric.
Tip Five: Use these six tests: touch, light, fray, grain, stretch, scrunch. The touch test examines how the fabric feels when you touch it. The light test is done by holding the fabric up to the light and looking for its density and thread count. The fray check examines the cut edges of the fabric for stray or loose threads. The grain test inspects the grain, cross grain, and bias. The stretch test explores the ability of the fabric to retain its shape. The scrunch test is used to identify the tendency of the fabric to wrinkle or not. Tip Six: To examine the quality of fabric use your senses. Touch it, look at it up to the light, examine the weave, stretch it to see if it retains its shape, and scrunch up the fabric to see if it tends to wrinkle or not.
Tip Six: Check out the labels on the end of the bolt. Check out fabric content and washing directions.
Tip Eight: Use lots of cotton fabrics. Certainly cottons are the most popular fabric today offering huge variety in color and print. Sewers love them for all types of sewing. Since cotton is a natural fiber, it does have a tendency to shrink. While some high end cottons are pretreated for shrinkage, it is a good idea to set cottons before using them. To set the fabric, wash in warm water and cool dry.
Tip Nine: Cotton blends are even better for many projects. Blends are made from various other fibers, but the most common is polyester. The characteristics of polyester most notable is its plastic synthetic nature that retains heat and sheds moisture. When you blend fibers, you get some of the features of each fiber. For example, a shirt made of 70% cotton and 30% polyester will have the texture and breathability of cotton plus the wrinkle resistance of polyester.
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