Building a Wardrobe: Fabric Choices

As we continue on our path towards building a wardrobe (who made their list yet!?!?!?), we of course have to talk about fabric.

There are so many fabrics out there - quilting cotton, twill, knit, voile, chambray, crepe de chine, and the list goes on and on.  So how do you know what to buy???  Well, if you already have patterns in mind, they should give you some fabric suggestions, so that helps.  But you might not know exactly what patterns you are going to make yet, and that is ok.

You can Check out my earlier post about some fun Girl Charlee fabrics HERE. (sweatshirt, Peach Skin, and Scuba knit)

So we are talking about summer, so we want some great summer fabrics.  If you are stuck in a rut of only quilting cotton, you really need to check out the beauty and versatility of Voile,  Peach Skin, and Crepe de Chine.  Both are woven fabrics, and both have beautiful drape and a soft hand.  These will transform your basic summer dresses and tunic tops into light and ethereal breaths of fresh air.

I have this stunning Art Gallery on Pre-order through Whimsical Fabric

I bought this Girl Charlee Peach skin in the fall and have just been waiting for warmer weather to sew it up!!!

I am drooling over this Crepe de Chine, and think I will be adding it to my stash soon!

Let's talk knit next.  Within the category of knit you have soooooo many options.  Melly Sews and Its Always Autumn  have great posts about the basic types of knit fabric and what distinguishes them. For kids clothing,  I prefer knits with some amount of lycra/spandex in them just to make sure I am getting  great recovery and a nice stretchy fabric.  Kids bend and move in so many unexpected ways and I want their clothes to keep up with them!!!  I am also a huge fan of french terry for pants and shorts as well as zip ups, hoodies, and beach coverups - and those are all important for the transitional weather of spring into summer.  Girl Charlee has a huge selection of all the knits you need - one of my favorite things about their website is that they list the weight, stretch, and recovery of all their knits.  For kids Tshirts, skirt leggings, dresses, etc.... I only buy 8 oz and above.  You can make cool things with things that are 7 oz or below, but they are going to be more sheer and slightly more temperamental to work with.

GC Sweat Shirt Material

GC French Terry

GC Mustard Stripe Knit

Some of the larger lines are finally seeing how much we want pretty knits, one of my favorites is Art Gallery.  They have coordinating knits for their spring and summer lines and just came out with a line of gorgeous coordinating solids as well.  This fabric is soooooo soft, has a 5% spandex content, and washes up beautifully.  I have already used some for my exposed zipper shirt, and have more on hand for Mack's summer wardrobe. You can get all of the Art Gallery prints in this post at Whimsical Fabric!!!

The first 3 are Art Gallery, the Anchors and stretch lace are from Girl Charlee, and the Red is form Riley Blake.  All of these are so incredible and are going to make awesome additions to Mack's wardrobe!

Twills and Denim:  If you don't already have a stash of these in your collection, you need to start adding some.  Twills and Denim are great for jeans, shorts, skirt, jackets, bags, etc....  I prefer for all of my twills and denims to have a touch of stretch - around 10-20%.  This once again just allows kids a full range of movement as they go about their day.  Comfort is huge for me when it comes to kids clothing. Girl Charlee has just gotten in a whole new line of Stretch Denim and Twill.

I am so in love with both of these great spring/summer prints, I will be ordering some of the dark denim soon too!

And of course no collection would be complete without some adorable quilting cottons in the mix.  Let's be honest, this category of fabric still has the most variety of prints and styles available.  Cottons work perfectly for dresses, tunic tops, cute shorts, button up shirts, skirts, and so on and so forth.  And I just can't help but drool over the cuteness....

These are my pretties!!!! Art Gallery, Micheal Miller, and Waverly - yummmmmy!

Petal and Plume from Art Gallery

Sweet as Honey from Art Gallery

Sweet as honey from Art Gallery

Lunar Lounge by Carol Van Zandt - oh the plans I have for you...

Just Type by Patty Young for Micheal Miller

Share your favorite fabric that you must have for your collection with me on Facebook or Instagram  #Springcollection2015 or leave a comment below.  

Assignments so far:

• Make your list of what your child needs in their wardrobe for the upcoming seasons
• Start picking your fabric from your stash, or buying a few new pieces in stores or online.