Working with Slippery & Drapey Fabrics

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Rudolph Goodman
6 years ago
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1 The Wide World of Fabric I am endlessly fascinated by the array of fabric available to sewing enthusiasts today. Even though many cities have lost their independent fabric stores, the Internet has made it possible to source a huge variety of fabrics. Sourcing fabrics on-line comes with limitations. The biggest obstacle to me is that I can t feel the fabric. I very often request swatches of fabrics that I m interested in so that my fingers can give me the tactile information I m seeking. If I order fabric several times from one store and am consistently happy with the quality of fabric that I receive, then I know that it s likely that I ll usually and perhaps always get good quality fabrics from this source. Developing a business relationship and trust with a company is great, because then I m more inclined to order fabric without first requesting swatches. There are some on-line businesses that I ve developed nice relationships with just from speaking with the sales staff or owners on the phone and exchanging s. I have included an annotated resource list at the end of this written lesson for both brick-and-mortar and on-line stores that carry a nice selection of slippery and drapey fabrics. I hope you find it helpful! Use the Pattern to Help You Control the Fabric I frequently add more notches on my paper pattern for long or complicated seams. This gives me more fixed places to match and pin adjoining seams. And it also means that between pinned match points there is a smaller distance where I need to control the fabric. This really helps me keep slippery and drapey fabrics from scooting or slithering about. Page 1 of 8

2 You will need to know how to walk a pattern in order to place notches. You can add a notch (or as many as you want) on the pattern piece on the bottom, and then simply trace the notches onto the top pattern piece when you come to them as you walk the pattern. The process of walking a pattern is not particularly difficult. But it s important to work carefully and accurately when doing any pattern work. I often walk a pattern from the hem up, but you can start at any fixed point, such as a notch. In the following example, I walk the side seams of a bodice, starting at the hem and working my way up to the armhole. To start, lay one pattern piece on top of the other, having the two pattern pieces even along the hem and matching the seam lines. It does not matter if the two pattern pieces do not have the same shape or angle within the seam allowance remember that you are walking the two seam lines. If you have seam allowances on your pattern as I do in the following example, you will be using the cut edges of the pattern as a reference point, but your focus will be on the seam line. If your pattern has seam allowances but does not have the seam lines drawn on it, as is the case with many commercial multi-sized patterns, use a ruler to accurately measure and mark the seam line before starting to walk a seam. If you are working with a pattern with no seam allowances at all (perhaps a sloper or when using couture techniques), then the edge of the pattern will be the seam line. It s very easy to walk and true patterns that do not have seam allowances, since you ll match the edges of the two pattern pieces. See photos on the following two pages. Page 2 of 8

3 This pattern is being walked from the hem to the armhole along the side seam. To start walking the seam, place one pattern on top of the other, aligning the two pattern pieces so that both lower edges meet at the seam line. The seam lines of these two patterns naturally line up to about the waist. How far seams line up will vary from one pattern to the other. Note that the cut edges will also line up. Where the seam lines diverge on the two pattern pieces, place a pin straight down through the patterns. Page 3 of 8

4 Pivot the top pattern, bringing the two seam lines back into alignment. In this case I did not need to pivot the pattern again, but many patterns will require a number of pivots. If you wanted more notches, you would first draw them on the bottom pattern. Then as you walk the pattern pieces, simply draw them on the upper pattern as you come to them. Page 4 of 8

5 Letting Your Fingers Engage with the Cloth When I first started to work with slippery and drapey fabrics, I felt like I was all thumbs. Like many sewers, I turned to books and magazine articles trying to find a tip or hint that would magically make working with these fabrics simple and easy. I experimented with some of the suggestions. When I laid out the fabric sandwiched between layers of tissue paper, I lost the control I wanted in terms of keeping the fabric on grain. Another suggestion, starching the fabric, helped me for garments that I wanted to launder. But relying on this meant that I couldn t make a simple lined wool skirt, which would get dry-cleaned. I even tried lightly spraying starch on just the edge of each garment section that I had cut out, but I couldn t control where I applied the spray starch well, and it was just weird having part of the garment section stiffer than the rest. In near desperation, I cut a large number of straight and curved samples and started sewing. As I sewed, I thought about what it was that made the task of sewing these fabrics difficult. I also looked over my own shoulder while sewing, which helped me observe in a different way what caused the difficulties. I realized that every once in a while, there would be a few inches of a seam where I felt like I wasn t struggling. This was always when I relaxed a bit. On the other hand, when the muscles of my hands and fingers were tense, I seemed to be battling with the cloth. Then it felt like my fingers were sitting on top of the cloth trying to exert control down through the cloth. But when I let my fingers and hands relax and experience the cloth, the sewing became easier. This is what I mean when I say let your fingers engage with the cloth. Don t force the fabric into submission; rather, let your fingers feel the fabric s inherent qualities and work with those aspects of the cloth. Page 5 of 8

6 The one trick I sometimes use when I m cutting out fabric that wants to slither about, I discovered by accident. I was making a mock-up out of polyester charmeuse in order to do a quick test fit for one of my teenage daughters. I had not used the pattern before, so I cut the individual pattern sections apart (front, back, sleeve, etc.), pinned them to the grained fabric, and started cutting the fabric out. The areas where the pattern tissue extended a few inches beyond the cut line was easier to handle than the areas where the pattern had been trimmed along the cut line. Occasionally now if I m working on a pattern that I ve used before, I ll copy it on tissue paper, leaving several inches of paper beyond the cut line. And a few pieces of advice: Enjoy the way these fabrics feel in your hands. Take delight in how beautiful they look and how gracefully they fall. Don t give up. Who knows how many garments it will take. Perhaps 3 or 4, or perhaps 10 or 40 or 75. But at some point you ll realize that you re just sewing along on a slippery and drapey fabric and that you re having fun! Resource List For Drapey And Slippery Fabrics A Fabric Place 6324 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD ( ) This is the brick-and-mortar store for Michael s Fabrics ( Great selection of silk prints as well as many other fabrics. They will swatch for free. Tell them that you ve taken a class from me! Page 6 of 8

7 B & J Fabrics th Avenue, 2 nd Fl., New York, NY ( ) They will send free swatches and have excellent mail order service. Fabrics of all kinds, especially good for silks. Banksville Designer Fabrics 115 New Canaan Avenue, Norwalk, CT ( ) Good mail order service and inexpensive swatching service. They specialize in natural fibers and have a wide variety, from the ordinary to the exotic. Elegant Fabrics 222 W. 40 th Street, New York, NY ( ) A wide variety of fabrics all of excellent quality. Mail order service is extremely good, and they ll send free swatches. Lace Star 270 West 38th Street, New York, NY (212) lacestar.com A beautiful selection of silks, including lots of silk prints, as well as other fabrics. They will send swatches but it s not always efficient. Mood Inc. 225 W. 37th Street, 3rd Fl., New York, NY ( ) A good selection of silks, and a wonderful selection of drapey knit fabrics. Asking for swatches isn t efficient, but ordering swatches from the website is. However, they don t show everything on the website that s in the store. Page 7 of 8

8 Sawyer Brook Distinctive Fabrics P.O. Box 1800, Clinton, MA Known for their stellar swatch club, they will also send swatches upon request. Excellent quality fabric always, and the service is always good. Textile Fabric Store 2717 Franklin Road, Nashville, TN ( ) They will send swatches and have good mail order service. All fabric is of excellent quality, and they have a good variety. Waechter's Silk Shop 9 Reed Street, Asheville, NC ( ) They will send swatches and have good mail order service. They carry fabrics of all kinds and specialize in silks. Excellent quality of fabric. I also offer silks through my website: The silk supplier I use carries a very high quality silk; I use it for my own garments and all of my custom work. The ten different types of silk fabrics that I offer are all available in 102 different colors. Color card and swatch set of the different silk types are available for a small fee. Page 8 of 8

ELIZABETH DRESS. Copyright 2014 Spitupandstilettos.com All Rights Reserved. Level: Advanced Time: 4-5 Hours Pages: 36

ELIZABETH DRESS. Copyright 2014 Spitupandstilettos.com All Rights Reserved. Level: Advanced Time: 4-5 Hours Pages: 36 ELIZABETH DRESS Level: Advanced Time: 4-5 Hours Pages: 36 This dress features a sweetheart neckline, darts, pleats, bias binding and contrast! Copyright 2014 Spitupandstilettos.com All Rights Reserved