Fabric 101

One of the lessons I learned early on in my costuming career was that the right (or wrong) fabric can make (or break) a costume. It seems like a simple idea--one that should be obvious, but for some reason, it's one of those lessons you have to see in action before it truly sets in. Sure, that $1 fabric bin at Wal-Mart is cheap (that is to say, when Wal-Mart still sold fabric), but that's because it's usually terrible fabric that looks, well, terrible.

Now, obviously, when you're buying fabric, you should know right from the get-go what color or pattern you want--if you don't, your project may be in more trouble than we have time for. But what else do you need to look for in a fabric? The big deciding factors that I look at are these: weight, drape, sheen, opacity, and, of course, price.

But what does that mean?! Let's talk about it.

Weight: This is a concept that relates easily to every day life. Going out? What's the temperature? Should you take a light-weight jacket or a heavy coat? That's basically what fabric weight is: how heavy or light fabrics are. Heavy fabrics keep you warmer. They also hang more...well...heavily. Think, velvet theatre curtains vs., say, window sheers. In making this choice, think about how much you want to the fabric to move and how warm or cool you want to be while you're wearing it. It's also worth noting that heavy fabrics can add drama while light fabrics give an ethereal feel.

Drape: This refers to the stiffness of the fabric and how it hangs. If you're making a flowing skirt, you want a softer drape (i.e. a less stiff fabric.) This is an easy one to forget about when you're choosing fabric, but it's very important. To check it out, unwrap a bit of fabric from the bolt and see how it hangs down. Does it fall into soft curves or does it stay rather square?

Sheen: What do I mean 'sheen'? Well, sheen refers to how shiny a fabric is. Satin has a lot of sheen, wool usually has none. And everything in between. Pro tip: if you find a fabric you like but it's too shiny, take a look at the backside of the fabric, which is often less shiny and may be just what you want.

Opacity: This is how see-through a fabric is. Sometimes, see-through is what you're going for. (Like if you're making the aforementioned window sheers.) Sometimes, it's not. It's always good to check how see-through (or sheer) your fabric is. I usually check this by putting my hand on the underside of the fabric and noting whether I can see the color of my skin through the fabric. Often, cheaper or light-colored fabric will be unintentionally see-through.

Price: This one is pretty obvious. When you're working within a budget, price matters. If you're shopping somewhere like JoAnn and you have plenty of time, go scout out the fabric you want and then check back for sales or coupons (I was waiting to buy my Hogwarts robe fabric when I got a 50% off coupon in my email! Hurray!). You know what you have to spend and you know what you need, so I won't lecture on price. But it felt wrong to leave it off the list.

When I walk around a fabric store, I touch everything, checking those attributes and considering my options. Now you can join in the fun!