What kind of crazy person would want to sew CLOTHES??

Today, over at one of my very favorite and most creative blogs, Sugar City Journal, there’s a discussion of fabric for sewing clothing.  Among the many comments were complaints that the quality of fabric available at the big box fabric stores is sorely lacking, and mostly ends up pilling or pulling or just falling apart.  I especially liked one comment, which I’ve used for the title:  Most of the stores with better fabrics tend to focus on quilting cottons, because what kind of crazy person would want to sew CLOTHES?

I love quilt-weight cottons and use them for all kinds of diverse projects.  I think they’re great for clothes and have the most wonderful prints.  I also think, though, that we should embrace solids in our sewing, look for textures and depth in our fabrics, and seek a higher-end variety that goes beyond a beautiful print.  I love using linen and linen blends when I sew children’s clothing especially, and I always have a huge stock of solid colors on hand.  And let’s not even get into the question of bottomweights–how foolish to make a cute pair of pants out of quilt-weight cotton only to have them dissolve when worn, even by a child!
Whipstitch is currently in the process of adding more and more apparel quality fabrics to our selection of luscious quilting prints in the shop.  We’re piling up linen, linen/tencel, and linen/rayon blends in amazing summer and spring colors; mid-weight denim for pants and skirts and jumpers; twill in more shades than you can imagine; Carolina ginghams from Robert Kaufman, so soft and with such delightful selvedges; and plenty of pima cottons in prints and solids.  Stay tuned, and don’t give up hope!  Affordable fabrics for great apparel are OUT THERE, sooner than you think.

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  • liz
    March 17, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    how fun! good for you! i agree, we need to sew w/ solids more often… i’ve made many an outfit that could have been toned down a little by incorporating some solids.

  • liz
    March 17, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    oh yeah – lynne (at sugar city) is my neighbor! how lucky am i ; )