Calico Fabric Guide
Dating from the 11th Century, Calico is a long-established and traditional fabric used extensively in industry.
The Best Wedding Dress Fabric
A wedding dress can be the most important dress in a women’s life, highly anticipated and talked about for years before the big day.
With Wedding season just around the corner, we thought we should share our expertise about different fabric choices and styles most suitable for Wedding Dresses, their history, style and how they perform for home sewing.
The Best Wedding Dress Fabric
With Wedding season just around the corner, we thought we should share our expertise about different fabric choices and styles most suitable for Wedding Dresses, their history, style and how they perform for home sewing. There are many different fabrics to choose from, dependent on the style you want to go for; structural or flowing – there is a perfect fabric to enable you to create a show stopping gown.
LACE
Favoured by Celebrities and Royals alike, lace has traditionally been favoured as a wedding fabric of choice. Lace has long been in fashion, going back centuries. Queen Elizabeth I, a high profile lace lover of the 16th-Century. Lace thrived in the 17thcentury and was used to cover garments and home wear.
Lace and royal weddings go hand in hand, made ever more famous by the Duchess of Cambridge’s McQueen lace dress, worn at the royal wedding in 2011.
Popular varieties of lace include; Chantilly, Alencon and Venise. Its delicate composition means it can be tricky to sew on. Make sure you take it steadily if using a sewing machine, ensure you use sharp pins and scissors – so as not to snag the fabric.
SATIN
Satin is one of the most popular, most versatile, and most practical wedding dress fabrics. It is synonymous with wedding dresses, it’s smooth supportive weave works well with a variety of designs and is a little thicker than other fabrics, making it great to work with for wedding dress creations.
Satin composition can be silk, polyester or a blend.
The name derives its origin from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou, whose name in Arabic was Zayton.
Historically, during the middle ages, satin was made of pure silk, which made it very expensive, and only used by the upper classes. However, as time has passed, it has become one of the most popular fabrics on the market today.
Looking for great quality fabrics? We have over 600 references available!
SILK
Silk has had its roots planted in China since 2500 BC, China is still the world’s largest producer of silk. Its soft texture makes it an idyllic fabric for evening wear, especially wedding dresses.
When working with silk, there are a few things you should remember. The smooth feel can make it difficult to work with, so you should consider investing in pattern weights to hold your fabric in place. Silk also has a tendency to fray, to avoid this you can use narrow strips of fusible interfacing along the edge of each pattern.
TULLE
Tulle is named after a French city from where it originated. It’s a net like fabric that is often used as a petticoat under wedding dresses and is usually made from rayon or nylon. It’s lightweight, meaning there is no extra weight added to the dress, and is perfect for giving the skirt its dramatic pouf.
Sewing Tulle can be tricky, especially if you want to create a professional finish. Make sure you use pins to secure it in place as this will prevent bunching and uneven sewing.
CHIFFON
Chiffon is well-known for its lightweight and sheer properties, making it a popular choice when it comes to formal and evening wear. It’s usually made from silk or polyester, and its delicate look makes it perfect for flowing dresses.
When sewing with chiffon, it’s important to keep in mind that its silkiness can make it hard to work with, so avoid sewing too fast as this can cause the fabric to bunch and ruin the stitch. With this type of material, the stitching also needs to be clean and fine to ensure a slick, finished appearance. This delicate fabric has a floaty, weightless look, but it can fray and snag easily.
If you are looking for wedding dress fabric or just inspiration then please browse our fabrics and order some free samples today.