Why is it that at the end of the sewing/selling season, we suddenly get access to some fabulous fabrics for the current season? Well, there actually are some good reasons for that, but its nonetheless frustrating to find fabrics that would have worked well into some of our earlier mailers. That’s what is so wonderful about the web store. We can react quickly and get these fabrics to you without delay! Look what just arrived!
Pampelonne
Pampelonne. Now, I love, love, love linen and this is probably one of the nicest linens I’ve seen in a long time. These printed linens were milled in Italy for Elie Tahari. This is their premier line and we were fortunate to find some fabric still available. Lightweight and soft, this is like no other. Wait until you feel the hand of this fabrication!
The bold floral print is “au currant” and perfect for summer dresses. Now weren’t you just looking for something for that upcoming party in July or August? This is it! Trust me.
Dixie created a whole display board about Linen this spring. It is one of our favorite fibers and we often have linen blends year-round. I’ve written about linen before so you probaby now my schtick…yes, it wrinkles, but you can control the look of the wrinkles by how you care for it. Wash it several times before constructing your garment and the wrinkles will soften. If you want to maintain some crispness, underline with silk organza and handwash or dry clean. Linen is cool to wear on hot days, it has the look of the season and, in my opinion, it says class! There are many more unique linens in stock, although I’ve noticed some have sold out just this week. Tis the season. Shop Linens.
Is it a lawn or a voile? Have you ever wondered about the difference between these two wonderful cotton weaves? Here are a few tips to help you discern what you are buying.
Lawn is generally softer to the hand and not as tightly woven. Batiste, by the way. is woven with finer yarns. Lawn is commonly used for blouses or full skirts. A tight fitting bodice would need a lining as would a straight dress. Solid colored lawn makes a wonderful lining for linen or other fabrics where you want to maintain the natural breathing qualities.
Lawn as well as voile takes dye nicely so it works well for prints. This is one in a series of paisley prints that will be posted to the web store mid-month. Another example of high quality printed lawn can be found in our Cotton Section. Tristana
Voile is considered a semi-sheer and has a crisper and drier hand than lawn. Uses are similar, but the drape of the fabric will have a slightly more sculptured fall.
This pretty two color print is part of our second summer mailer coming in mid-June. You can see from the photo that it is slightly more transparent than the lawn and the folds stand up just a bit more. The reason for this is the twisted filling yarn that is used in the voile weaving process. We tried to get a good closeup to show you the difference in the yarns. The inset is the voile weft yarn where you can see the higher twist (more turns per inch). Another example of fine cotton voile can be found in The Back Room. Copley
A few tidbits of interest.
Lawn was originally named for Laon, France where linen lawn was manufactured and used often in garbs for clergy or royalty.
Voile comes from the Old French meaning veil. Although in French it is pronounced “vwal”, we opt for the anglisized pronounciation which sounds like coil.
We loved this durable denim when we saw it and were intrigued by its properties.
Ruff ‘n’ Ready
The mill tag told us it was cotton and eme…off to do some research and this is what we found.
“Eme” stands for elastomultiester which is the Euopean generic for Dupont’s T-400 Lycra product. This man-made fiber is a sub-category of polyester. The FTC approved it as a sub-class due to its different chemical make-up and properties. For more on the ruling, see here. For our purposes, what we need to know is that it provides low to moderate stretch to textiles without the use of spandex. I wondered how it would react to washing so I took a piece of our sample cut home to do my own research. First of all, the results were very satisfying to the hand. The fabrication softened considerably from its initial state. It is still bold and durable, but with a softer touch. Then I measured it against my pre-wash measurements. It didn’t shrink…what’s this? Truly, that was my experience. In doing more reading I found that garments containing T400 produce low shrinkage results and have near 100% shape retention.
The cross threads in this denim are soft blue instead of the typical white filling yarns in denim. You’ll see in the photo that those are the eme yarns. I have not made up a garment in this fabric, but from our testing, we think you’ll be pleased with the end result.
Spotted Slipper
I’ve been meaning to blog about this fabric for weeks so I hope it is still relevant. I know it’s a captivating fabrication because so many of you have purchased it. We can’t wait to hear about your creations. The technique is fascinating when you look closely at the fabrication. The face side is a soft semi-sheer rayon in muddy brown. Woven irregular dots are exposed from the reverse side. When you look at the reverse (and it is reversible) you will find a glorious crinkled ivory/peche shade of acetate. The soft texture is irresistible to the hand and to the eye. This is the kind of innovation that makes us all want to be textile designers! What fun to experiment with texture and fabrication in one fabulous double cloth!
I’ve talked about this before, but I thought it was worth looking at again. Extra yarn weave is a technique that we are seeing a lot this spring. Additional filling yarns are woven through the fabric at intervals creating the desired motif. The floaters are then “clipped” close to the design. In this example the floaters were on the back.
Here is the face:
Leila
The second example shows the “clipped” design on the face. Here’s a closeup
And here is the full view.
Yin and Yang
This technique gives a fabric a very stylish and unique texture. When shopping for fabric that will add to your collection, this is a good bet.
Finding the diamond in the rough.
We have a supplier who offers wonderful quality basics…we’ve done business for years and have built up a trusting relationship. Every once in a while they find some gems in the lots that they purchase. Guess who gets the first call? This was the case recently with this stunning novelty jacquard.
Limoncello
Look closely to see the detail of the weave. The diagonal slant of the yarns creates a visual texture enhanced by the alternating colors of lemon yellow and deep ivory. This jacquard is woven with fine cotton yarns resulting in a lightweight lawn with a luxurious hand. The drape is soft and the design sophisticated…perfect combination for summery blouses, skirts or dresses. We are on the lookout all the time for just such gems! We do our best to bring them to you at affordable prices…this was truly a find and we shared our good fortune with you by making the price so reasonable. We’re glad we could do it!
Crisp–soft, shiny-matte, light–dark, wide-narrow, smooth, ragged… these are the elements of texture and texture is what it’s all about! I thought this piece just about said it all.
This unusual complex fabrication was milled in Italy for Alice & Olivia. A lightweight rayon organza has1 in. wide crosswise stripes in pale gray and mossy gray. Woven on the lengthwise are strips of rayon/linen ribbon in a deep mossy gray. We think the technique is a bit like the crafters chenille (layers stitched one on top of the other and then slit to create fray). The ribbon is woven into the base and then only the top layer is slit, leaving raw edges that fray during finishing.
It’s an elegant look for a shirt or light jacket. We have a two way stretch khaki that works well with it for casual or blend it with black for day to evening. Ragtime
I can’t let another day go by without commenting on the absolutely delicious wool/cashmere fabric we currently have in stock. I have to post quickly or it will be gone. It’s interesting to me that sometimes characteristics that slow down the sale of a fabric can be overridden by other features which make the fabric irresistible!
Calendonia
This incredibly soft and “hand” friendly fabric has a subtle plaid woven in. The plaid is visible enough that it needs to be matched. Some of our customers shy away when they hear the plaid word. I’m not sure why, except that it takes a little extra effort to plan and cut out your garment. Once the planning is done the sewing falls into place easily. But in the case of this gorgeous specimen, all eyes and hands are on the yarns. Fluffy, soft in color and in hand, richly sophisticated in pattern and coloration and made of the finest precious fibers! What’s not to love???
Look closely at the photos and you will see the delicate boucle yarns that create some of the texture. If the photo isn’t enough, just ask for a swatch. We’ll be happy to send it as long as it lasts.
Two different fabrications, same great print! Did you notice? Above you’ll see Archetype, which is a nice cotton satin printed in olive and gold on beige ground. The alternating image is Bosk, a cotton jacquard in beach tan sand overprinted with cinnamon and black. We see this occasionally as we browse through samples from different manufacturers and designers. Sometimes the free lance textile designer sells a print to two or more different buyers; other times a designer with rights to the print produces the same print in different incarnations. Of course, there is also the possibility of unscrupulous dealers who “steal” or re-use designs without authorization. In this case, the fabrics came from the same source so they evidently felt the print would work in two different presentations. We think it does!
Recently a supplier called me to let me know he had found a second roll of an exquisite black tropical wool with a bit of stretch, recently imported from Italy. I had ordered a good bit with my first order, but he knew that I would want to consider this additional amount. He said, are you buying or investing? I wanted to invest. Sometimes it just makes sense to extend yourself and buy it when you see it. We sell a great deal of black tropical wool. We only buy it though when we see the quality that meets our standards…there is a lot of inferior fabric out there in the marketplace! We buy both with and without stretch. This fabrication offers versatility to the custom sewer, both in terms of climate (year round for most areas) and design. Whether you choose a LBD, a dinner suit, day wear separates or a wardrobe builder pair of pants, this fabrication is with you for a long time. When we have it in stock, customers order in stocking quantities (5-10 yards). When we are out of stock, we have a constant stream of requests. So my supplier knew this was something I wanted in the “bank”.
We’ve talked about “stashing” which is a form of collecting—the joy of owning a fabric that you love and the potential that it has for future projects. Investing, however, is different. These fabrics are workhorses that never go out of style. The silhouettes change from year to year, but the classic fabrications stay constant or change at a much slower pace. For instance, black worsted wool—today’s version is lightwieght with added stretch, but tropical weight (tuxedo) without stretch is still very much in the mix as is black gab. If you had purchased one of these fabrics ten years ago and needed a new suit today, you could just go to your “bank” of investment fabrics and make a withdrawal.
Other fabrics we chose to “invest” in this fall include navy blue silk and wool herringbone, gray heather lightweight wool, charcoal wool flannel, and black viscose/Lycra jersey knit to name a few. What will you invest in this year? Share your thoughts.
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