Silk Related Fashion Tips
Three Keys To Fabric Selection
The "magic" comes when you find a fabric that you fall in love
with. Finding a suitable fabric usually isn't difficult for a
project you're working on. Settling on just one fabric is the hard
part.
Here are some criteria to kee...
There is so much variety available in fabric shops, on-line, and in
mail-order catalogs that it's almost difficult to choose. Often, I
end up buying fabric whether I need it right now or not. After all,
a quilter must always have fabric on hand.
The "magic" comes when you find a fabric that you fall in love with.
Finding a suitable fabric usually isn't difficult for a project
you're working on. Settling on just one fabric is the hard part.
Here are some criteria to keep in mind when making fabric
selections: colorfast quality; fiber content; surface design. If you
stick to some guidelines about these criteria, then you're sure to
be pleased with the final result of your project.
Surface Design:
The printed or woven surface design and, of course, the color, is
very important.
1) Try to pick fabrics with the same color value so one doesn't
stand out in the finished quilt.
2)Check to see if there is a one-way direction in the design; you
may need to purchase extra fabric to allow for cutting fabrics with
plaids or stripes.
3) The size of the design and the background spaces are also
important considerations. Are the designs large, medium, or small?
Is the background area prominent? How will this particular fabric
look when cut it into small quilt pieces? If the design is too
widely spaced, it may be lost in the cutting of the fabric.
Take a few minutes to analyze fabric and keep these questions in
mind when purchasing fabric. It is far better to have left over
fabric than be working on a project and run out of material. I've
run out before only to find that the fabric is no longer in stock.
Colorfast Quality:
Avoid fabrics that fade. Pigment-dyed fabric resists light 40 hours.
Wet-printed resists light 20 hours. The best thing to avoid having
your quilt fade is to keep it out of direct sunlight.
Fiber Content:
The fiber content is especially important when purchasing fabric for
quilts. The way fabric responds to manipulation is determined by the
fiber content. The standard 100% cotton fabric sold for quilting is
easy to work with and this is the best choice.
Cotton blends are harder to work with; they tend to shift while
cutting or sewing them. 100% cotton is strong when wet, absorbs
moisture, creases easily, irons nicely at high temperatures and
wears well.
Beware of Discount Fabric:
For a good finished product, quilters need to purchase good-quality,
colorfast cotton fabric from a reputable supplier. I've bought
fabric from discount stores because I liked the print. Then I had
trouble manipulating the material; it would shift and bunch as I
sewed it.
The finished product usually reflected the problems I encountered
while sewing. No matter how much money I saved on material, my time
was wasted by producing a less than satisfactory quilt.
In order to be happy with your finished product, I recommend that
you buy what appeals to you as long as it is good-quality, colorfast
cotton fabric that is treated with finishes to control shrinkage,
resist soil, and resist wrinkling.
Silk Fabric from EZSilk.com
Silk Fabric Types:
Silk Charmeuse 19mm, 16mm
Silk Chiffion 6mm, 8mm, 12mm
Silk CDC 16mm, 19mm
Silk Organza 6mm, 8mm, 12mm
Silk Habotai (China Silk) 6mm, 8mm
Silk Shantung 17mm, 19mm
Silk Dupioni 17mm, 34mm
Silk Twill 12mm, 14mm, 16mm
Silk Duchess Satin 35mm
Silk Cotton Voile 9mm
Silk Stretch Charmeuse 16mm, 19mm
Silk Blended Novelty Fabrics
-Silk Weight: mm (It's called Mommy)