How to choose the right fabric for your sewing pattern | My top five tips…

This is something I’ve been asked about quite a lot recently on Instagram and over on YouTube so I thought I’d write a short blog and make a quick YouTube video explaining how I personally go about selecting my pattern and fabric matches. I hope you might find something helpful in it 🙂

Tip No. 1 – Use the Pattern Envelope…

It might be an obvious one but those fabric suggestions are included on the back of your pattern envelope for a good reason and that is that the pattern designer or company think these will work best for the type of garment the pattern is designed to make. That’s not to say of course that you cannot deviate from these suggestions if you’re feeling confident enough to do so but you’ll just need to bare in mind that using a different fabric to those recommended might mean that you need to make a few little adjustments to help ensure that your finished garment turns out as you envisage. For example, a stiffer fabric may make things look more structured and a more drapey fabric may mean you end up losing some structure. A good example of this is my recent Davenport Dress by Friday Pattern Company, I used a very drapey viscose for my version and you can see that my frill sleeves are not quite as structured and shapely as those on the pattern image below. I didn’t mind this for my dress but I thought it was a good example to use.

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Tip No. 2 – Think about how you want to feel when you’re wearing your finished garment…

This, of course will be personal preference. I don’t feel comfortable wearing anything with too much structure, for example a cotton or crisp linen, anywhere that hugs the body or where I need to move so full cotton sleeves are usually a no for me. However, I do like the feel of a structured cotton or chambray denim sleeveless or short sleeved shirt dress as with my cotton Darling Ranges Dress I made last summer (no stiff sleeves over the elbows there) and I love the structure that the gathered skirt takes in this more solid fabric choice too. I also love a cotton pleated skirt because again, the structure and stiffness is away from my body but the crispness of the fabric holds those pleats perfectly.

Likewise, in winter I’ll always opt for a fleece backed sweat shirting fabric, like in my Billie Sweatshirt below for my sweaters and jumpers rather than say a French terry or loop backed jersey just because it’s so much cosier for the winter months. Loopback and French terry for me are perfect spring/summer sweater fabrics – I do live in England after all, sweaters are appropriate all year round!

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Tip No.3 – Look for the contrast…

I sometimes find it fun to look for a contrast when pairing a fabric to a pattern. For example, if you’re making a vintage inspired tea dress, instead of going for the traditional ditsy floral print one might expect, go for something bold and unexpected. I tried this recently when making this 1940s inspired shirt dress for my frugal frocks challenge using a bold tiger print viscose instead of what I felt I should have been using – you guessed it, a ditsy floral. I really love how this turned out. I also tried a similar twist on my latest pair of Carolyn PJs, using a bright cotton sunglasses print fabric rather than something more traditional.

The alternative of course though is that it can always be lovely to pair a pattern with exactly what you’d be expected to use. I really want to make a traditional pair of brushed cotton Carolyn’s inspired by this pair from The Queens Gambit pictured below.

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Tip No. 4 – Choose a fabric which suits your current skillset…

If you’re a beginner or someone who isn’t feeling too confident yet in their sewing journey, it might be helpful to choose a pattern matched with a fabric which is on the easier side to work with say a cotton or cotton blend. Cotton tends to behave itself far better and cut and press more easily than the more slippery fabrics like viscose, silk or rayon. I can’t tell you the amount of disappointment in the beginning of my sewing journey when I would purchase a slippery fabric based on looks alone and then have a disaster when I realised that said fabric required much more work than I was ready to give at that stage of my journey. There was even that time I tried to make a woven dress pattern from a stretch jersey but we’d best not talk about that….! Once you’ve got a few more stable fabric makes under your belt you’ll soon be confident enough to give a more difficult fabric a try and you’ll be much better equipped than I was with more practice. I’m wearing my first Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress in the photo below, this was something I made when I was feeling adventurous at the beginning of my sewing journey and the cotton was lovely to work with while I was learning some new skills.

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Tip No. 5 – Think about how, where and when you’ll be wearing your garment…

If you’re making a summer dress or cami top made for the warmer weather you might prefer to use a more natural fibre such as viscose, rayon or linen. These are far more breathable than say a polyester fibre which could have you sweating and be sticking to you within a few hours of wear in any kind of heat. These fabrics also work well in both the warmer and more chilly months. Polyester fabrics are probably better in the winter but again consider how you might be wearing your garment and whether you might need to line to avoid that awful dress stuck to tights situation or a whole load of static! Of course, if you’re making your garment for formal or workwear, you might need to consider the structure of the finished garment and if you need to commute or travel bear in mind the amount of crease you may or may not get when you arrive at your destination – hello beautiful linen skirt that was pristinely ironed before setting off on that car journey on a hot day! I’m wearing a Myosotis Dress in the image below made from a rayon, no static tights situation there so all good… 😉

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So there’s my little round up of tips for pairing patterns and fabrics, I hope you’ve found them helpful! I could go on but I’ll stick to five for now :). If you have any top tips of your own please feel free to add them in the comments below.

Thanks for reading…

Until next time – happy sewing!

Sally x

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