buying fabrics

Picking a right fabric for your project is crucial. Some need fabrics with specific drape or weight, most of patterns also state what fabrics you can use for it and amount you need. You can sew some patterns for knits with woven fabrics, if they are loose enough as patterns for knit fabrics have no or negative ease to accomodate amount of stretch and maintain the fit of the garment.

jump to section: where to buy fabrics, shopping for fabric, notes on knit fabrics, calculating yardage

where to buy fabrics

local brick and mortar shops are my preferred way to buy new fabrics. Often they'll have some gems hidden under piles of fabrics, at least in my local one. You can touch the fabric before buying it, have it burn tested (more on this later), usually you will be able to check fabric composition, see the color in daylight and drape it over yourself to check if it will be suitable for your project. In smaller cities you won't be able to get everything you'll need though.
internet shops Internet allows you to buy way more fabrics, from cheap ones to finest Italian suiting wools or exclusive silks. Buying on the internet is a gamble, even despite weight listed and photos fabric might feel/look bit different and drape in different way. One advantage is that you'll most likely get exact fabric composition. It's good to find good internet vendors which allow you to buy samples. I myself have two shops and one seller on certain auction site I usually buy from, as I'm sure I'll get what I ordered.
leftovers, deadstocks Usually you can get them online, on second hand websites or from specialist shops who sell deadstock fabric. In many cases you will be only get pieces in certain size or you'll have to buy certain amount of fabric. You can get really good fabrics that way. I myself got quite few wool fabrics from factories which don't exist anymore, which are so nice or leftovers of very expensive suiting fabrics for ridiculously small money.

shopping for fabric

If you buy your fabrics on the internet you need to be specific what you want, as you can't touch it or drape on yourself. Check fabric composition, if it's important for you - if you want to avoid elastane or synthetic fibers. Double check fabric's width and calculate your yardage based on this, if fabric will be narrower than 140-150cm.

While buying in person you have shop assistants to help you out and suggest fabrics to you. You can touch it and drape it over you (a respectable store should allow you to do it) and shop assistant do a burn test in case if you want to double check the composition or if composition label got lost in store.

Notes on burn testing

Certain fibers burn and smell differently, which allows you to check of what fibres fabric is made of:

• cotton and linen will burn quickly with bright flame, it will smell like a burned paper and will leave ash.
• viscose/rayon/whatever virtue signalling "eco" rayon which is trendy currently will burn like cotton or linen, like paper but with smaller flame.
• silk will burn for a bit, then it will go out and will smell like burned hair. It leaves beads that can be easily crushed with fingers.
• wool will burn like silk, will also smell like burned hair but it will leave ash instead of beads like silk does.
• acetate will melt and form hard beads and will smell like vinegar while burning
• synthetic fibers will melt, form very hard beads and smell like chemicals while burning.
• blend fabrics are hard to figure out sometimes, but usually you should notice characteristics of both materials (wool-poly blend will burn and smell like wool, but will form beads for an example)

notes on knit fabrics

Some patterns for knit fabrics might state amount of stretch needed for this certain pattern. You can check it by cutting out a 10cm stip of fabric, pinning it down on sheet with ruler/next to a ruler and stretching it out. If it stretches to 14cm, it has 40% stretch (usual for knits without elastane, mostly cotton), if it stretches to 19cm, it has 90% stretch, etc.

calculating yardage

Your pattern should state the amount of fabric you need, but if you plan using narrower fabric you need to calculate things yourself. For dresses you need lenght of garment + 5-10% for shrinkage (especially cotton and linen can shrink a lot, less if you handwash them). If you plan to sew one with a sleeve, you add lenght of the sleeve. It's same for simple skirts and pants, if you want to add a waistband/pockets add their lenght to lenght of the skirt/pant leg (including seam allowance and hems). If pants are very wide you should get lenght of leg two times + amount for waistband/pockets. For jackets and coats - it depends on a type of jacket. Jackets without classic suit type collar with facing will use up less fabric, very likely lenght of garment + lenght of sleeve plus amount for waistbands or collars. With other collar type you'll need most likely 2x lenght of the garment. For an example - I usually sew blazers that are around 62cm long (back seam lenght) and amount of fabric I'd get is 2x66cm plus 30-40cm for pockets, collars and other bits = 160-170cm.

With very narrow fabrics you should get 2x lenght (dresses, skirts, tops), 2x lenght + amount for waistband/pockets (pants), 2x lenght of garment + lenght of sleeve + amount for collars/pockets (jackets, coats).