You should never neglect the home décor section when shopping for costume fabric. You’ll find patterns and colors there appropriate for a surprising swathe of history and some drawn characters too. For instance, when you need emergency princess gear, pintuck taffeta can be a lifesaver. Sheer gauze curtains can provide material for fairy wings. I’ve lost count of… Read More »
Part of the ‘Antique Fabrics‘ series, this fabric isn’t necessarily extinct, but it was more popular in the past than the present. Kersey is a coarse woolen cloth, originally made in Kersey, in England, hence the name. Made from lower-quality wool with a twill weave it was thick and sturdy, and very warm. Very suitable for peasant… Read More »
Part of the ‘Antique Fabrics‘ series, this fabric isn’t necessarily extinct, but it was more popular in the past than the present. I’ve spotted this one in my 19th century catalog reprints. At that time, it seemed to refer to a hard wearing woolen or wool-silk originally woven in Turkey – hence the name. Classic and Modern… Read More »
Part of the ‘Antique Fabrics‘ series, this fabric isn’t necessarily extinct, but it was more popular in the past than the present. Cambric is a lightweight, densely-woven, plain-weave cloth. Originally made of linen, but later made of cotton as well. It’s name derives from Cambrai, France, where it was once made in significant quantities. Today, linen cambric is… Read More »
Part of the ‘Antique Fabrics‘ series, this fabric isn’t necessarily extinct, but it was more popular in the past than the present. A firm, plain-weave cotton fabric. Imported from India in the 17th & 18th centuries, then produced in France, thereafter. Thread count is usually 200 per inch or more. Percale uses long-staple cotton, resulting… Read More »
Silk shantung is a plain-weave silk fabric that’s often confused with silk dupioni. The name derives from the Shandong area of China. Both fabrics feature ‘slubs’ which are natural irregularities in the silk thread from the silkworms’ cocoons. Shantung is smoother than dupioni, with fewer slubs in the weave. From more than a few feet away,… Read More »
Silk dupioni is plain-weave silk fabric with a distinctive “slubby” surface. Those slubs are from the silkworms’ cocoons, and they add a bumpy, almost rough texture to the fabric. In any other silk, these slubs would be a defect but, in this case, they’re a feature. I sometimes wonder if it was created as a marketing… Read More »
I mentioned velveteen briefly during the section on velvet, because they’re so closely related. Like velvet, velveteen is a napped fabric. Like velvet, the pile – the fuzzy part – is on a non-stretchy base. So what’s the difference between velvet and velveteen? Velveteen has a shorter pile than velvet, which makes the fabric physically… Read More »
I’m including this one for the history fans out there. Fustian is a term who’s meaning has wandered all over the place. At different points in history, it was used to describe heavyweight cotton cloth, wool, silk/linen weaves and even velvet. Shakespeare used it to describe pompous speech because, by his time, fustian referred to… Read More »
Damask is a two-colored woven fabric – usually featuring satin or sateen weave – which is notable for being reversible. I say “two-colored” but it’s woven with a single-color yarn, but the contrast between the satin and the sateen weaves makes it appear as if it’s two colors and if that isn’t an example of how weave can affect… Read More »
Fabric For Cosplayers