FABRIC FIASCOS - MY PET HATES

If you happen to be in the vicinity of my studio and you hear some serious cursing going on, you can pretty much guess that I have: a) stabbed myself with a pin, b) cut myself on a rotary cutter, or c) am being harassed by a piece of fabric.

Pins and sharp objects are obvious workplace dangers when you are a fashion designer (I’ll never forget my fashion tutor’s famous words “never walk around with pins in your mouth” while walking round with pins in her mouth; come on, we all do it!), but fabric is what gives me more headaches than anything.

I have my personal pet hates and the biggest culprit is stretch velvet. As soon as you cut it, it starts to curl up at the edges then, after you have carefully pinned your pieces together and start sewing, the fibres rub against each other and start “walking” so by the time you get to the end one piece is several inches longer than the other! I confess to have had several tantrums over this. Duck! Flying velvet heading your way!

I remember once making a black furry gilet with a fabulous fabric that looked like poodle fur. The finished result was fantastic, but I was hoovering up the fibres created when cutting out the pieces for months. It was like they’d managed to float around the house. They were everywhere. Atchooooooo!

Then there are delicate fabrics like silk and chiffon. Seriously, you only need to throw them a passing glance before a snag mysteriously appears. Chiffon is so fine, it’s an art form in itself trying to sew it before it falls apart. I avoid it like the plague.

Polyester lining fabrics are awful to work with too, because the mere sniff of an iron makes them shrink so by the time you attempt to attach it to your main fabric, it’s several sizes smaller. And if you aren’t in the know, you could end up with the type that causes electric shocks from static build up. Ouch!

I love working with denim and cotton drill because they don’t fray, don’t curl, don’t snag, but even they are not without their issues. On a side seam of a pair of jeans for example, there could be 12 layers of fabric folded over each other and sewing machines can struggle to go through them. You need a pretty durable sewing machine to cope with this or you end up with skipped stiches or the machine simply refuses to go over it.

And have you ever considered the amount of work that goes into matching up patterned fabric pieces? This takes considerable patience and planning and often leaves you with lots of wasted material.

So, we fashion designers have to employ all sorts of tactics to counter these problems. Fabrics, wherever possible, need to be pre-shrunk, either by washing, ironing or both, before cutting begins. Tedious? Oh yes. We creatives like to get stuck into the task in hand, and all this prepping is a pain!

Depending on the fabric we are using, the style we are creating, we have to select the right kind of thread, the right type of sewing machine needle, the correct stitch type and length (and sometimes also width). We have to consider the best way of holding fabric pieces together when sewing to prevent ‘walking’, stretching, and other issues. When pins can’t be used because they could leave holes in the fabric, other techniques need to be used – mini bulldog clips, stabilising fabrics and tape are just a few possibilities.

Fortunately, I own a couple of useful books that give an insight into pretty much all types of fabrics, detailing their qualities and quirks with recommendations on how to work with them to avoid all their respective pitfalls. They even give tips on how to wash/care for each type of fabric. So if you need a fabric bible, I’d suggest you take a look at either Fabric Savvy or More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina.