Fabric 101
Okay, so we’re going to start with the super basics here. So, for anyone who’s just gotten their own sewing machine, or has never stepped into a fabric store before. We’re getting down into the nitty-gritty.
First thing you’ve gotta know is that there are hundreds of different kinds of fabrics out there, like holy shit there’s a lot. But, for the most part, they can be separated into two basic categories:
Natural Fiber Fabrics
Man-Made Fiber Fabrics
Now in a fabric store, like Joann’s or the cute little Mom-and-Pop shops that’re abundant in rural areas, you usually get fabric by the yard from the bolts they have on the shelves.
These are bolts btw:
If you’re cosplaying, always shop from ^these^ and not these:
^These^ are called Fat Quarters and each swath of fabric is only about 18" x 22". Usually they’re only for quilt pieces and since they’re so small, you can’t really use them for any sort of cosplay unless you need them for something specific and really know what you’re doing.
The types of fabrics are usually grouped together to make it easy to shop, so you’ll have an entire wall of cotton, then the fleece, the denim, the costume fabrics, ect. If you need any help finding a specific kind of fabric, you can always ask one of the store employees; most of the time they’re really sweet and more than willing to help.
If you want to know specifically what type of fabric you’re looking at, what it’s made of, the price, ect. then you need to turn that puppy on its end and look at the info sticker. They usually look a little like this:
And here’s a break down of what all that mumbo jumbo means:
That price is by the yard. Most fabrics differ in price from fabric to fabric. Some can be as low as $2.00 and then high quality velvet can hit $20.00 a yard and up. So for instance, if you were to make a dress that called for five yards of ^this^ fabric, then it would cost around $40 dollars. When you get your fabric cut, you can get as specific as down to 1/8th of a yard of fabric. Remember, fabric is always bought based on yards (3′ or 36″ to a yard) and never anything like feet or inches.
Once you’ve chosen your fabric, you can take it up to the cutting counter (in Joann’s you’ll have to get a number and wait for them to call it) tell the employee exactly how much fabric you need, and they’ll cut it for you and give you a receipt so you can pay for it at the cash register.
Wait, what? You thought we were done? Ha!
Okay, so here comes the tricky part. Once you get your fabric home, you need to pre-wash it before you cut it or do anything else with it, UNLESS you’re only planning on having your cosplay dry cleaned, OR it’s made of silk, taffeta, ect. Some fabrics can’t go through the wash b/c it’ll ruin them, so you’ll only ever be able to dry clean them. For these fabrics, you should be able to find care instructions on the bolt saying whether or not you can wash them. If not, you can find the type of fabric and its care instructions here.
For the other fabrics (cotton, ect.): if you’re only ever planning on having your cosplay dry cleaned, then don’t worry about pre-washing them. If you ARE planning on machine washing them after you’ve sewn them, then you need to wash your fabric at least once before you cut it. This is just so that if you’re using something like cotton, which has the tendency to shrink, it will shrink before you sew it, rather than after, therefore potentially ruining your cosplay.
*whew* And that’s the Basic 101 info you need on fabric! Shoot me a message if you have any specific questions! Happy cosplaying! <3
