It is not always easy to match fabric and sewing project. Yet this is essential to sew a project you will love to wear. Now that it’s time to think about spring/summer projects, I suggest you discover interesting fabrics to work with for this season.
Warp and weft side
Woven natural fiber materials are often very pleasant to wear in summer. They are breathable and available in many materials, weaves, patterns, and colors!
I do not recommend synthetic materials like polyester, which are not breathable. In hot weather, they will make you sweat, and if it’s a top, you risk unpleasant odors.
Cotton poplin
Cotton poplin is one of my favorite materials to work with and wear. It is easy to sew and therefore very accessible to sewing beginners. Since it is cotton, it has all the advantages of cotton in terms of breathability. Moreover, it is easy to find in stores and offers a very wide choice of colors and patterns.
It is a lightweight fabric that generally weighs between 110g/m2 and 140g/m2. It is perfect for blouses, shirts, skirts, dresses, lightweight pants, lightweight jumpsuits...
I really like using patterns in my summer creations, especially for my dresses. For that, I use Japanese cotton poplins. With their beautiful structure, they allow you to make shirt dresses (I often use the Deer and Doe Bruyère shirt pattern which I lengthen), pleated skirts... very original... guaranteeing you wear a unique garment. You will find lovely Japanese cotton in the shop, don’t hesitate to take a look!
Want to know more about cotton poplin? The full article is here.
Cotton lawn and cotton voiles
Cotton lawn has a slightly more elegant look than cotton poplin, thanks to its fine and tight weave, giving it a silky appearance. Like poplin, it is 100% cotton and therefore has all the advantages of cotton in summer!
It is also accessible to sewing beginners because it is very stable. This allows you to make projects with a very chic finish without using materials that are more difficult to work with, like silk.
Cotton lawn has a light weight between 110 and 130g/m2 generally, so it is comfortable to wear in summer and its soft, silky touch is very pleasant against the skin.
Cotton voiles look like and are often confused with cotton lawn. The major difference is the thread count and weave. Cotton voile is also light but does not have the silky appearance typical of cotton lawn. Cotton voile is also a very pleasant fabric for summer!
Want to know more about cotton lawn? The full article is here.
Viscose and tencel: in poplin, twill, serge, crepe...
Viscose and tencel come from natural wood fibers (beech, birch, eucalyptus, bamboo...). They both have the advantage of natural fibers.
These two fabrics are much more fluid than poplin and a bit more fluid than cotton lawn; they will therefore be a bit more difficult to work with and less accessible to sewing beginners.
Nevertheless, these materials are very interesting precisely for making flowing and light garments like loose blouses, dresses with a nice drape, flowing pants...
Want to know more about viscose? The full article is here and the one about tencel, here
Double gauze
The double gauze is a summer essential! Light, breathable, pleasant on the skin... it is a key material. Very soft, it is perfect for children's and baby clothes.
Moreover, it is easy to sew.
It is suitable for dresses, blouses, but also bloomers, swaddles, bodysuits...
There are several qualities and therefore prices. The quality of double gauze depends on its weave, and different techniques exist. That's why you will see some "budget" double gauzes deform, or some double gauzes showing irregular patterns... Be attentive to the quality/price ratio when shopping.
A small note, some double gauzes feature gold printed patterns. These prints must absolutely be ironed on the reverse side, and washing should be done with the garment turned inside out to preserve the gold pattern.
Want to know more about double gauze? The full article is here.
Eyelet embroidery and other embroidered fabrics
Eyelet embroidery belongs to the white embroidery family. It includes openwork (holes) where the fabric highlights the empty spaces. It is the empty spaces and the embroidery surrounding them that create the pattern.
It can be used as a "full" fabric, as a trim, or with fabric re-embroidered along the edge.
The embroidered eyelet fabric is perfect for making light summer outfits: dresses, blouses, tops, tunics,... It is a timeless fabric, a true basic, perfect for making ready-to-wear for women or children. Historically, eyelet embroidery is white, but today it can be found in a wide range of colors and patterns.
You can also find other fabrics today with embroidery along one or both fabric edges. There are cottons, viscoses, double gauzes...
Linen and its blends
A natural fiber par excellence, linen is very pleasant to wear in summer. Moreover, linen is quite an ecological fiber because it requires little water and fertilizer for its growth.
However, linen has the annoying tendency to wrinkle, which often results in it being little used in garment making. One way to remedy this is the cotton/linen blend, which keeps the freshness of linen while giving the fabric a less wrinkle-prone texture by adding cotton.
In the shop, you will find very nice Japanese cotton/linen blends to work with for making skirts, tops, but also accessories.
Knit side
On the knit side for spring/summer, there is also quite a lot of choice! As with woven fabrics, I recommend natural fibers.
Cotton and viscose jersey
The cotton and viscose jersey remain essentials for making t-shirts, tank tops, Breton shirts... They are pleasant to work with and can be sewn very quickly with a serger.
Plus, there are different textures and patterns: slub, ribbed...
What can be really nice is to use jersey bias or ribbing to edge the neckline or sleeves of t-shirts to give it a fun and/or contrasting look.
Want to know more about jersey? The full article is here and about jersey bias here
Pointelle knit
Pointelle knit, I find, is too little used in sewing even though it’s a super comfortable material to wear and a bit more original than what you can find in ready-to-wear!
Want to know more about pointelle knit? The full article is here.
French terry
If, like me, you live in a region where it can be 14°C in the middle of July... it’s good to plan for a light jacket or sweatshirt. And for that, french terry (also called loopback sweatshirt) is perfect! Neither too warm nor too cold, it allows you to cover up without being too "hot." It’s also useful for cooler summer evenings.
It sews very easily and is a good basic if you are new to sewing knitwear. It is paired with tubular or strip ribbing.
Here is my review of nice fabrics to sew for the spring/summer season; there are many more but here are the most common and easiest to find in haberdashery.
You will find a sharp selection of these fabrics in our haberdashery. Feel free to take a look.
Get your needles ready!
