Fabric favorites, from our Lead Fabriholics!
(Continued from home page.)
Marty (Tuesday's Girl)
My favorite fabric is rayon, including the rayon batiks. I like the colorful prints and drape of the fabric. It's easy to take care of, and wrinkles press out fast.
Cindy adds: Here's a new rayon that came in for early fall! At left, you can see the big design is a rose.
Below, a closeup of the texture.
Jill (Thursday's Girl)
My favorite fabric: French Terry. It makes wonderful lightweight sweatshirts for spring and summer, it's easy to work with and feels great. White makes great beach coverups.
June (Teacher Extraordinaire)
My favorite fabric is wool double knit.
It's the perfect fabric: you can tailor it or drape it for a perfect Little Black Dress.
It sews like a dream and needs almost no finishing.
Marsha (Forever Student)
My favorite fabric is quality wool. Even in the simplest style, it looks sophisticated and beautiful.
Cathe (Fabulous Kids' Teacher)
My favorite fabric is silk.
- I love the earthy smell!
- Way before the high-tech fabrics of today came along for wicking, silk was my favorite base layer for both summer and winter!
Dr. Cindy (Of course!)
Most of my favorite fabrics are knits.
Some tips on sewing with them:
You can sew them with your sewing machine, or you can use a serger.
I use a universal needle for most knits, but sometimes, if I don't like the way the stitches on my sewing machine look, I will change to a stretch needle - size 70.
To keep necklines from stretching while I'm working on them, I use clear elastic in the seams, like interfacing or stay tape.
I also use fine fusing tape to stabilize the hems - I just hate when they ripple! - and then sew them with a double needle. Even better is if I use the cover hem machine, or the cover hem stitch on my serger. That'll do the job too. Then I don't need the fine fusing tape at all!
Remember! Free Thread Thursday.
Buy at least 2 yards of any one fabric, and I'll give you the thread to sew it up - FREE - to thank you for coming in and being part of our gang of fabriholics.
Cheers and chocolate,
Dr. Cindy Feelgood
The Fabriholic's Sewing Therapist