Buying Fabric and Fabric Prep

It's time to go fabric shopping! I love this part.

How Much Fabric:

First of all, before you leave the house, you have to figure out how much fabric you need. Again, I always overestimate.

I found this photo on Pinterest, and I'm modeling my dress on it.

It's not quite floor length, and since it's for Pennsic, that's what I want. I'll still use measurements and cut it as if it's floor length just to be safe. Then I'll hem it up to where I want it.

The quick and dirty way to estimate fabric for a dress like this is to take your shoulder to floor measurement, double it, and then add extra. How much extra? I don't know. You'll need some, maybe ¼ yard, to account for the fabric shrinking when you wash it. If you're adding separate gores to the skirt, you'll probably want at least one additional yard. If you're doing a neck facing like I am, you'll want another ¼ to ½ yard. If you're nervous, you'll want to add another ½ yard. 

If you're really nervous, you can sketch out how you're going to piece the fabric, decide how you're going to lay it out, and get an exact amount. I usually don't bother doing that unless I'm making something I've never made before or something that has a lot of pieces.

Here's the quick math I did to figure out how much fabric to buy for this dress.

Shoulder to floor = 62”

62” x 2 = 124”

124”/36” = 3.444 yards

I round up to 3.5 yards and add 1 yard because of shrinkage and because I'm going to do a neck facing. I think I'll have enough for the gores on the side of the tunic when I cut it out. If not, I might have to buy more fabric later and the color of the dye lot may not match exactly. I'm willing to take that risk.

But wait! Fabric comes in different widths, usually between 36” and 60”, with 44” being the most common. The linen I like is 51” wide. If you're using something narrower, you might need more fabric. If any part of your finished garment is going to be bigger around than 2 times your fabric width (subtracting a couple inches to account for seams), you'll need more fabric. For the T-tunic, though, that shouldn't be the case unless you get fabric narrower than 40” wide, which isn't very common.

I bought 4 ½ yards of 51” wide fabric.

Fabric Selection:

When you're picking out your fabric, if you aren't getting sheets from a thrift store, check out the label on the bolt. Aside from the price, it will tell you the width of the fabric, washing instructions, and the fiber content. Keep in mind that almost all fabric shrinks when you wash it and that cotton shrinks more than most other fibers you'll see. I would stay away from fabrics that are more than 50% polyester or rayon since they don't breathe as well and get uncomfortable.

Speaking of comfort, check out the “hand” of the fabric. That just means to feel it, get a sense of the weight and the texture. You may have to unspool the fabric from the bolt a bit to do this. When you do that, you also want to find out how see-through the fabric is. Put your hand under one layer of fabric to see how sheer it is and decide what you're comfortable with. You might have to hold the fabric up to the light to get a real sense of this.

Take the fabric to the counter and get it cut.

Rant:

At a good fabric store, they will usually tear the fabric rather than cutting it. Not all fabrics will tear well along the grain, but cotton and cotton blends do, as do most linens. Tearing it ensures that your piece is on the grain and you're getting the full length that you're paying for. JoAnn's won't let their employees tear the fabric and it upsets me. I actually mentioned this to an employee the other day, and she said, “But tearing causes it to pull and pucker.” I wasn't going to argue with her, but that's stupid for a couple of reasons. One, it usually doesn't pucker or pull beyond a half-inch. Meanwhile, I can usually count on losing at least one whole inch due to the fabric not being cut on the grain. In fact, I usually lose two or three inches. Two, you should always wash and iron your fabric before you start cutting and sewing. If you do that, the puckers go away. So, to summarize my rant, tearing good, cutting bad, but most of us don't have much choice when it comes to where to buy fabric.

Fabric Prep:

Now that you have your fabric at home, it's time for my least favorite part: washing and ironing the fabric. Always washing your fabric before you make your garb. You don't want it shrinking after you've put all that work into it, and you definitely want to be able to wash this stuff.

I wash the fabric in hot or warm water with a normal spin cycle and dry it on hot or warm. If you got a strange fabric blend or wool, you'll want to follow whatever care instructions that bolt of fabric had on it. Once the garb is made, I'll only wash it in cool or warm water and do a low dryer cycle to ensure that no more shrinkage occurs. While your fabric is still a tiny bit damp, iron it. The dampness makes it easier to get the wrinkles out. You can always spritz it with a little water if it dries before you iron it.

Now you're ready to start cutting and sewing!