Aw, man. So I've been working on this vest for a month...
Not just the sewing of the vest, though. I also had to design the pattern and work through a test garment to tweak it first. I know, I always seem to be doing that. But then I have a perfect pattern I can use to make a million things with, right? If only it worked out that way! I just get bored with doing the same thing all time.
Anyhow. Here is a vest that I have dubbed "Eugenia". I was going to call it "Eugene" after my favorite Andrew Bird song, but thought slightly better of it at the last moment. Slightly.
The inspiration for this vest came from the fabulous draped styles of one of the premier art deco designers of the 1920s, Erte. These days you mostly see his illustrations of theatrical costumes and other elaborate formal attire, but he also deigned lovely draped day wear with fascinating interlocked and wrap-around pieces.
The fabric I used here is 100% wool and 100% cotton. I have moved away from synthetics whenever possible, these days. Natural fibers are more comfortable to wear, as you probably already know, but they are also better to work with. You can mold a piece of wool in ways that polyester would never allow, and silk drapes in such beautiful ways that synthetics will never quite replicate.
The edges of the front panels, here, were all stitched by hand and took eons to complete. I am quite happy with the way it worked out, though! Originally I was going to make the buttons functional and space them out down the front in a normal sort of way. I was inspired along the way, though, by one of those happy accidents, and instead settled on decorative buttons and a snap-front closure. I use snaps on most of my shirts, rather than buttons, because I like the hidden quality of them as well as the fact that you can't mess up an otherwise perfect garment by sewing a snap on the way you can by sewing a buttonhole on a dicky machine.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Embarassment of Riches
Right now I am suffering from a surplus of ideas and a distinct lack of time to devote to them (as well as a massive lack of energy). At present I have at least three massive projects I want to work on ALL AT ONCE, not including the complicated and fiddly project I have been working on for a month now!
I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through a (hopefully) gorgeous 1920's-esque, Erté-inspired vest. After that I have to decide between a retro 80's dress called "Jailhouse Rock", a steampunk-y bit of Rosie-the-Riveter-chic, a corset with a fun and funky twist inspired by a local art festival, and many experimental bits and bobs of varying degrees of usefulness.
BUT In a few months, I will have more than enough time on my hands. Which is by way of saying that at the start of September I shall be joining the ranks of America's unemployed. I hasten to add that this was a decision I made for myself, after a lot of hemming and hawing and generally beating myself up about it. So, in a week I will be ending my 5+ year association with my retail job and taking on full-time work at the theater for the Summer season. After load-out at the end of August I will be pleasantly free to do with my time what I choose until I either a)get bored and have to find a new day job, b)become broke enough that I have to find a new day job, or c)start making enough money with my Etsy shop and craft shows that I no longer need a day job.
Regardless of what happens it means I will have practically no time for the next few months, and then, finally, PLENTY of time to work on new designs and get the store restocked with interesting and fabulous new things!
So, anyway! Wish me luck!
Also, in honor of the occasion, for the next two weeks use the coupon code "QUITTINGTIME" at checkout and get 10% off everything in both of my Etsy shops!)
iwillfly.etsy.com
iwillflydestash.etsy.com
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Away with my raggle-taggle gypsy-o
The seasons just creep up on me, I swear! Just when I get used to the idea of Winter it's suddenly Spring. Two weeks later (it's California, we don't have transition seasons here) it's Summer.
While it's a bit too cold out today to qualify as Summer, it was in the 80s when I started work on this little jammy set a week ago.
I designed these little numbers a while back, based on classical pinup girls and a bad belly dancing costume I ran across in a Halloween clearance section. I really wanted to make the first salable set in a cherry (or other fruit, if I couldn't find cherries) print. I had to make an expedition out of the fabric hunt, and ended up dragging my father out to the fabric shop with me a few weeks back to help me pick out prints. I ended up buying two different fabrics, this one and one with the same cherries on a black and white checkered background. I polled everyone I knew to see which one I should make first. The girls all said black and oddly enough the boys all said checkers. I decided to go ahead and do the black one because my sewing machines were already threaded with black thread!
Often, when I am really taken with a design, I can't stop coming up with ideas for fabric combinations and embellishments for them. This set is no different. I can already think of so many great ways to change it up! Tap pants instead of bloomers, eyelet and gingham, lace, beads and bows, silks... what I actually end up with in the long run may have nothing to do with all these ideas, but it's always great to have a good old standard design to go back to when you are in a rut and can't think of anything new and exciting to make.
While it's a bit too cold out today to qualify as Summer, it was in the 80s when I started work on this little jammy set a week ago.
I designed these little numbers a while back, based on classical pinup girls and a bad belly dancing costume I ran across in a Halloween clearance section. I really wanted to make the first salable set in a cherry (or other fruit, if I couldn't find cherries) print. I had to make an expedition out of the fabric hunt, and ended up dragging my father out to the fabric shop with me a few weeks back to help me pick out prints. I ended up buying two different fabrics, this one and one with the same cherries on a black and white checkered background. I polled everyone I knew to see which one I should make first. The girls all said black and oddly enough the boys all said checkers. I decided to go ahead and do the black one because my sewing machines were already threaded with black thread!
Often, when I am really taken with a design, I can't stop coming up with ideas for fabric combinations and embellishments for them. This set is no different. I can already think of so many great ways to change it up! Tap pants instead of bloomers, eyelet and gingham, lace, beads and bows, silks... what I actually end up with in the long run may have nothing to do with all these ideas, but it's always great to have a good old standard design to go back to when you are in a rut and can't think of anything new and exciting to make.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Retro Chic
I am constantly inspired in unusual ways. For this particular project I was instantly inspired when the local fabric shop got in a shipment of this incredible ribbon rose-covered taffeta fabric. I was first taken with the red version, but figured I would go a more subdued and elegant route for this skirt right out of the gate.
This 3-D fabric posed special little problems while working with it (and that isn't mentioning all the little bits of black taffeta that are still scattered around my floor after three vacuumings!). The zipper had to be stitched in by hand, the waistband had to be made of a smooth fabric (no one wants three inches of ribbon roses around their waistline), and the hemlines of both the skirt and the lining had to be reinforced with what we call "horsehair" but is actually a type of braided nylon. All in all I am tickled with the way it turned out, and only wish I had a giant Queen Elizabeth hat and white peplum jacket to wear it with for the photos a la Dior's iconic New Look of the post-war 1940s and 50s.
As an aside, I would like to point out that in these pictures I am wearing the earrings my mother gave me as a wedding present, because she was getting on my case about never wearing them recently ;)
This 3-D fabric posed special little problems while working with it (and that isn't mentioning all the little bits of black taffeta that are still scattered around my floor after three vacuumings!). The zipper had to be stitched in by hand, the waistband had to be made of a smooth fabric (no one wants three inches of ribbon roses around their waistline), and the hemlines of both the skirt and the lining had to be reinforced with what we call "horsehair" but is actually a type of braided nylon. All in all I am tickled with the way it turned out, and only wish I had a giant Queen Elizabeth hat and white peplum jacket to wear it with for the photos a la Dior's iconic New Look of the post-war 1940s and 50s.
As an aside, I would like to point out that in these pictures I am wearing the earrings my mother gave me as a wedding present, because she was getting on my case about never wearing them recently ;)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Let them eat cake
Man, you know times are stressful when my new items drop to one per two month span. Uck.
Anyway, here is the latest greatest project. The fabric this is made from is probably the most amazing stuff I have ever worked with. The peach and blue stripes are each woven from a collection of much smaller stripes in alternating deep and light tones. The floral design is also jacquard woven in to the piece in delicate white and dove-gray thread. The background is entirely finished with a moire texture, which is that slightly wood-grained look that you see on fabric sometimes. I have had this stuff in my collection for many years, waiting for appropriate projects. I made a pair of cuffs with it a couple of years ago but this vest has officially used it all up, I'm afraid. I wish I had better photos of it, but it's terribly foggy today and will be raining tomorrow (and I had a rough morning so going out in the back yard was about as much modeling as I was up for!)
The vest is made on the same pattern as the Madame Adora circus-themed vest that sold over the Summer. I liked how it turned out well enough that I am planning some more interesting variations in the future. Next up: a steampunk-esque explorer-inspired version.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Farewell to Autumn
Well, it's almost Winter now, and time for all the holiday craziness. This December I will be attempting to take my driver's license exam for the first time (ugh) in between all the rest of the things that life throws at you this time of year. The weather has finally changed in my little warm corner of the world, and the trees are in brilliant Fall colors!
The Etsy shop has been doing booming business (October-December is probably mu busiest time sales-wise) and so it is starting to look a little bare! I have been chugging along on this rather complicated tailoring project for the last few weeks (I had a big nasty flu somewhere in there, which sapped my will to live let alone to sew for a while). But this week I finally put on the finishing touches and it is ready to meet the world!
This little wool jacket went through a mock-up stage before the final product was actually underway, to assess how I liked the fit and style, which direction I wanted to put the pleats in, how long the hemlines should be, and that sort of thing. The fabric is a lovely blue and white herringbone shot with multi-colored threads ( I used a brown version of the same fabric for the "Irene" capelet a while back) and it is lined in a blue lining fabric that I had in my stash leftover from my big final project in couture sewing class when I was in college (ooh, about 10 years ago, now). That project caused so many tears on the day it was due, as while I was giving it a final press before turning it in the iron melted one of it's long sheer organza sleeves! Ugh! I am still heartbroken!
The Etsy shop has been doing booming business (October-December is probably mu busiest time sales-wise) and so it is starting to look a little bare! I have been chugging along on this rather complicated tailoring project for the last few weeks (I had a big nasty flu somewhere in there, which sapped my will to live let alone to sew for a while). But this week I finally put on the finishing touches and it is ready to meet the world!
This little wool jacket went through a mock-up stage before the final product was actually underway, to assess how I liked the fit and style, which direction I wanted to put the pleats in, how long the hemlines should be, and that sort of thing. The fabric is a lovely blue and white herringbone shot with multi-colored threads ( I used a brown version of the same fabric for the "Irene" capelet a while back) and it is lined in a blue lining fabric that I had in my stash leftover from my big final project in couture sewing class when I was in college (ooh, about 10 years ago, now). That project caused so many tears on the day it was due, as while I was giving it a final press before turning it in the iron melted one of it's long sheer organza sleeves! Ugh! I am still heartbroken!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Fabric primer!
I work part-time in a locally-owned independent fabric store, where I am closely involved with the customers on a daily basis. Often I find that when people ask for or describe a type of fabric they are looking for they use incorrect terminology, which is certainly not their own fault and mostly comes from being unfamiliar with fabrics and their construction. So what is a clothing shopper to do when they encounter fabric terms they are unfamilar with? Do you know the difference between "silk" fabric and "satin" fabric?
Here is a quick primer in fabrics that you might see specified in my work and elsewhere in your clothing shopping adventures:
Woven: When fabric is woven it is made from threads interlaced like those potholders you used to make in summer camp. A set of threads is stretched out across a loom and another thread is literally "woven" through them. Over-under-over-under... etc. Woven fabrics are not stretchy unless they contain an "elastomer" like lycra (also called "spandex") or rubber, and even then will only have a small amount of stretch. Woven fabrics include satin, twill, denim, broadcloth, calico, taffeta, velvet, etc.
Knit: Knit fabrics are made with needles locking a single long piece of thread together over and over again like a chain. This is why when you get a snag in your sweater or pantyhose they unravel all over the place, because cutting that one thread undoes the entire structure of the fabric. Knit fabrics can be quite stretchy without the need for an elastomer. Knit fabrics include jersey, french terry, ribbing, velour, stretch velvet, and your standard-issue T-shirt fabrics.
Animal fiber: anything made from an animal product. Wool, silk, alpaca, etc.
Plant fiber: anything made from a plant or tree product. Cotton, linen, etc.
Man-made fiber: Broadly, anything made through chemical processes. "Synthetic" fabrics include polyester, nylon, and acrylic and are generally petroleum-based. "Cellulosics" include rayon, tencel, lyocell, acetate, and bamboo (word up! bamboo is not straight off the bamboo plant!), and are generally made by processing paper mulch, sawdust, or waste cotton until it's a squishy goo and forming it into fibers. Vegan but often not eco-friendly.
Blend: often fabrics are made from threads that use more than one type of fiber. This lets you get the qualities of both fibers in your fabric, or helps to reduce costs. Cotton is often blended with polyester to help prevent wrinkles. Wool is likewise blended with polyester to help bring down the price. Lycra is a huge deal these days, and it's nearly impossible to find a pair of pants that doesn't contain a small amount of lycra to help them fit a little nicer and return to shape after you sit in them for a long time.
Microfiber: I use this rarely, but you see it a lot so I thought I would point it out. Microfiber is always made from a man-made fiber such as polyester. Microfiber simply means that the fibers that make up the threads are very fine and narrow compared to standard polyester fiber. Thus the fabric is quite soft and drapes nicely and is often used to clean glass and plastic because it won't scratch the surface easily. All true microfibers are man-made and vegan. "Wool microfiber" is not truly microfiber, it's just degraded wool.
Cotton: Everyone knows what cotton is, right? Well, not really. A lot of people call a fabric "cotton" if it is soft or if it is stretchy like a T-shirt. But cotton is a plant fiber that can be made in to many different types of fabrics. I often use "quilting cotton" which is a smooth, non-stretchy, mid-weight fabric with a print on it, or "broadcloth" which is a similar fabric but in a solid color, for linings in my jackets, shrugs, and vests. They also make great shirts, dresses, skirts, you name it. Heavier types of cotton include "twill" (usually a solid color or print) and "denim" (usually woven with two colors of threads, like the fabric blue jeans are made from) which both have a subtle diagonal weave pattern to them that you can see if you look very closely. These days cotton often has a bit of lycra in it to add stretch. I almost always use cotton twill for my corset linings, and another heavyweight cotton called "canvas" or something similar for the interior structure of the corset. Cotton is a plant fiber and is vegan-friendly. Here is a cotton from my shop.
and Another
Linen: Another plant fiber, linen is often slightly slubby or very smooth and crisp. Linen wrinkles easily when it isn't blended with another fiber, and the industry (hand to god) calls them "status wrinkles". As in "I can afford to not care if my clothes are all wrinkly". Because of this I usually like to use linen for tops and jackets, but generally not for skirts or pants. Linen is vegan friendly. Here is a linen.
Silk: This is the #1 word that people use when they are trying to describe a smooth, lustrous, often diaphanous fabric to me. It is almost always NOT what they mean. They mean "satin" or they mean "china silk" but they do NOT mean actual silk. When I say "silk" in my listings I am referring to 100% silk fibers, made from the cocoons of silk moths. It can be smooth and shiny, or slubby, rough, and otherwise textural. Silk charmeuse is a satin fabric that is very shiny and soft. Silk habotai is lightweight and airy, but not shiny. Silk shantung and dupioni both have streaks of slubby texture running throughout the weave, and are lustrous and stiff. Silk noil (pronounced "noyl") or "raw silk" is very rough and slubby with a soft drape and no shine. Real silk is rather expensive. Silk is made from animal fibers, and is not vegan-friendly. Here's an example of silk.
And here's a silk satin
And here's a silk dupioni.
Wool: Wool is made from the fur coat of sheep. It can be woven or knit in to many different types of fabric and can be found in a lot of different qualities. "Suiting" is usually a smooth, flat, wool used for jackets, skirts, pants, etc. "Wool flannel" has a soft brushed finish. "Wool crepe" has a slightly crinkly look. I love to use wool. Most of my wools are blends, simply because 100% wool is rather prohibitively expensive for a lot of things. It is often blended with polyester or acrylic (both man-made fibers). Obviously, wool is not vegan-friendly. An example.
Satin: This is usually what people are talking about when they think of "silk". This is a slick, smooth, shiny fabric that you often see used in formal wear, wedding gowns, the linings for jackets, etc. Satin can be lightweight and drapey, like charmeuse satin, or heavyweight and firm like "bridal satin" or "duchesse" satin. A common heavyweight satin that is slightly dull rather than brightly shiny that I like to use is called "peau de soie" (pronounced Poh-Du-Swah). Satin is made using a special weave that creates the shiny effect. It can be made from silk, but is often made from polyester, acetate, or another man-made fiber. It can also be made from cotton, in which case you will sometimes see it called "sateen". In my listings I will specify either "silk" or "polyester" in my materials list, and I never use acetate satin because it deteriorates badly with age. Satin can be vegan-friendly if made from synthetics, but can also be made from animal fibers, so make sure you read carefully if that is a concern for you. Synthetic satins are generally low to mid-range in price, silk satins can be VERY expensive. Here's a satin in the shop.
Taffeta: taffeta is a stiff, formal wear fabric that makes a nice scrunching sound when you rub two pieces of it together. That "swish swish" sound is called "scroop" in the industry and is supposed to be a mark of quality and opulence. Taffeta can be made from silk, polyester, nylon, and sometimes acetate. It can also have a bit of lycra in it to make it stretch slightly. I usually use only polyester or silk taffeta, and again it will be specified in the listing. This one, just like satin, can be vegan or not depending on fiber content and can vary in price likewise. A taffeta for reference.
Pongee: soft, lightweight, often polyester. Rarely silk. Used in linings more than anything else. Not shiny. Here is a pongee under-layer In white) with a chiffon over-layer (in green)
China silk: lightweight and slick. Can be 100% silk or polyester (polyesters tend to be shinier). Often used in linings. Real silk China silk is often called "habotai".
Chiffon: sheer, lightweight, and drapey. Can be silk or polyester. Totally see-through. Usually seen in clothing with a layer of something opaque underneath it. This one in the shop is a jacquard woven chiffon.
Organza: sheer, stiff, not drapey. Used a lot in home decorative projects and in formal wear. Can be silk or nylon/polyester. Also totally see-through.
Velvet: velvet is a fabric made with little extra threads that stick out from one side of the fabric and give it a soft, fuzzy texture. It can be woven or knit for stretchiness. Synthetic fibers like acetate and polyester are the most common velvets available, but silk velvet (which is actually a silk blended with rayon) are also available and are softer and more luxurious. Stretch velvets and acetate velvets are the least expensive velvets, but even they are rather difficult and expensive to produce and are in the mid-to-high range price-wise. Silk velvets can be quite expensive as can some of the better quality polyester microfibers. "Cut" or "burnout" velvets have designs etched into the fabric though the fuzzy pile to expose the base fabric underneath. Velvet made from cotton is called "velveteen" like the rabbit. Here's a burnout stretch velvet and some regular stretch velvets.
Brocade/Jacquard: Woven fabrics generally made in synthetic or silk blends. They feature a design (flowers, crosses, etc) created through the weaving process. Often people will call these "embroidered" but they are not (embroidery is added to fabric after it's already finished. Brocades and jacquards have the design woven right in to them). Expensive to produce, brocades are often spendy fabrics, and are usually found on corsets and formal wear. If you want to tell if your fabric was jacquard (pronounced "juh-card") woven flip it to the wrong side. The design should still be visible, but in reverse, like a photo negative. Here's a brocade.
Also here.
Polarfleece: Always ployester. Thick, soft, stretchy, very warm, sometimes made from recycled soda bottles and the like. You probably have a jacket made out of this. Or a blanket. I use it sometimes for shrugs. You also see it used a lot in stuffed animals, fingerless gloves, etc. Doesn't unravel when you cut it so it's pretty versatile. Here's a shrug in polarfleece.
Anything I didn't cover that you want to know about? Let me know!
Here is a quick primer in fabrics that you might see specified in my work and elsewhere in your clothing shopping adventures:
Woven: When fabric is woven it is made from threads interlaced like those potholders you used to make in summer camp. A set of threads is stretched out across a loom and another thread is literally "woven" through them. Over-under-over-under... etc. Woven fabrics are not stretchy unless they contain an "elastomer" like lycra (also called "spandex") or rubber, and even then will only have a small amount of stretch. Woven fabrics include satin, twill, denim, broadcloth, calico, taffeta, velvet, etc.
Knit: Knit fabrics are made with needles locking a single long piece of thread together over and over again like a chain. This is why when you get a snag in your sweater or pantyhose they unravel all over the place, because cutting that one thread undoes the entire structure of the fabric. Knit fabrics can be quite stretchy without the need for an elastomer. Knit fabrics include jersey, french terry, ribbing, velour, stretch velvet, and your standard-issue T-shirt fabrics.
Animal fiber: anything made from an animal product. Wool, silk, alpaca, etc.
Plant fiber: anything made from a plant or tree product. Cotton, linen, etc.
Man-made fiber: Broadly, anything made through chemical processes. "Synthetic" fabrics include polyester, nylon, and acrylic and are generally petroleum-based. "Cellulosics" include rayon, tencel, lyocell, acetate, and bamboo (word up! bamboo is not straight off the bamboo plant!), and are generally made by processing paper mulch, sawdust, or waste cotton until it's a squishy goo and forming it into fibers. Vegan but often not eco-friendly.
Blend: often fabrics are made from threads that use more than one type of fiber. This lets you get the qualities of both fibers in your fabric, or helps to reduce costs. Cotton is often blended with polyester to help prevent wrinkles. Wool is likewise blended with polyester to help bring down the price. Lycra is a huge deal these days, and it's nearly impossible to find a pair of pants that doesn't contain a small amount of lycra to help them fit a little nicer and return to shape after you sit in them for a long time.
Microfiber: I use this rarely, but you see it a lot so I thought I would point it out. Microfiber is always made from a man-made fiber such as polyester. Microfiber simply means that the fibers that make up the threads are very fine and narrow compared to standard polyester fiber. Thus the fabric is quite soft and drapes nicely and is often used to clean glass and plastic because it won't scratch the surface easily. All true microfibers are man-made and vegan. "Wool microfiber" is not truly microfiber, it's just degraded wool.
Cotton: Everyone knows what cotton is, right? Well, not really. A lot of people call a fabric "cotton" if it is soft or if it is stretchy like a T-shirt. But cotton is a plant fiber that can be made in to many different types of fabrics. I often use "quilting cotton" which is a smooth, non-stretchy, mid-weight fabric with a print on it, or "broadcloth" which is a similar fabric but in a solid color, for linings in my jackets, shrugs, and vests. They also make great shirts, dresses, skirts, you name it. Heavier types of cotton include "twill" (usually a solid color or print) and "denim" (usually woven with two colors of threads, like the fabric blue jeans are made from) which both have a subtle diagonal weave pattern to them that you can see if you look very closely. These days cotton often has a bit of lycra in it to add stretch. I almost always use cotton twill for my corset linings, and another heavyweight cotton called "canvas" or something similar for the interior structure of the corset. Cotton is a plant fiber and is vegan-friendly. Here is a cotton from my shop.
and Another
Linen: Another plant fiber, linen is often slightly slubby or very smooth and crisp. Linen wrinkles easily when it isn't blended with another fiber, and the industry (hand to god) calls them "status wrinkles". As in "I can afford to not care if my clothes are all wrinkly". Because of this I usually like to use linen for tops and jackets, but generally not for skirts or pants. Linen is vegan friendly. Here is a linen.
Silk: This is the #1 word that people use when they are trying to describe a smooth, lustrous, often diaphanous fabric to me. It is almost always NOT what they mean. They mean "satin" or they mean "china silk" but they do NOT mean actual silk. When I say "silk" in my listings I am referring to 100% silk fibers, made from the cocoons of silk moths. It can be smooth and shiny, or slubby, rough, and otherwise textural. Silk charmeuse is a satin fabric that is very shiny and soft. Silk habotai is lightweight and airy, but not shiny. Silk shantung and dupioni both have streaks of slubby texture running throughout the weave, and are lustrous and stiff. Silk noil (pronounced "noyl") or "raw silk" is very rough and slubby with a soft drape and no shine. Real silk is rather expensive. Silk is made from animal fibers, and is not vegan-friendly. Here's an example of silk.
And here's a silk satin
And here's a silk dupioni.
Wool: Wool is made from the fur coat of sheep. It can be woven or knit in to many different types of fabric and can be found in a lot of different qualities. "Suiting" is usually a smooth, flat, wool used for jackets, skirts, pants, etc. "Wool flannel" has a soft brushed finish. "Wool crepe" has a slightly crinkly look. I love to use wool. Most of my wools are blends, simply because 100% wool is rather prohibitively expensive for a lot of things. It is often blended with polyester or acrylic (both man-made fibers). Obviously, wool is not vegan-friendly. An example.
Satin: This is usually what people are talking about when they think of "silk". This is a slick, smooth, shiny fabric that you often see used in formal wear, wedding gowns, the linings for jackets, etc. Satin can be lightweight and drapey, like charmeuse satin, or heavyweight and firm like "bridal satin" or "duchesse" satin. A common heavyweight satin that is slightly dull rather than brightly shiny that I like to use is called "peau de soie" (pronounced Poh-Du-Swah). Satin is made using a special weave that creates the shiny effect. It can be made from silk, but is often made from polyester, acetate, or another man-made fiber. It can also be made from cotton, in which case you will sometimes see it called "sateen". In my listings I will specify either "silk" or "polyester" in my materials list, and I never use acetate satin because it deteriorates badly with age. Satin can be vegan-friendly if made from synthetics, but can also be made from animal fibers, so make sure you read carefully if that is a concern for you. Synthetic satins are generally low to mid-range in price, silk satins can be VERY expensive. Here's a satin in the shop.
Taffeta: taffeta is a stiff, formal wear fabric that makes a nice scrunching sound when you rub two pieces of it together. That "swish swish" sound is called "scroop" in the industry and is supposed to be a mark of quality and opulence. Taffeta can be made from silk, polyester, nylon, and sometimes acetate. It can also have a bit of lycra in it to make it stretch slightly. I usually use only polyester or silk taffeta, and again it will be specified in the listing. This one, just like satin, can be vegan or not depending on fiber content and can vary in price likewise. A taffeta for reference.
Pongee: soft, lightweight, often polyester. Rarely silk. Used in linings more than anything else. Not shiny. Here is a pongee under-layer In white) with a chiffon over-layer (in green)
China silk: lightweight and slick. Can be 100% silk or polyester (polyesters tend to be shinier). Often used in linings. Real silk China silk is often called "habotai".
Chiffon: sheer, lightweight, and drapey. Can be silk or polyester. Totally see-through. Usually seen in clothing with a layer of something opaque underneath it. This one in the shop is a jacquard woven chiffon.
Organza: sheer, stiff, not drapey. Used a lot in home decorative projects and in formal wear. Can be silk or nylon/polyester. Also totally see-through.
Velvet: velvet is a fabric made with little extra threads that stick out from one side of the fabric and give it a soft, fuzzy texture. It can be woven or knit for stretchiness. Synthetic fibers like acetate and polyester are the most common velvets available, but silk velvet (which is actually a silk blended with rayon) are also available and are softer and more luxurious. Stretch velvets and acetate velvets are the least expensive velvets, but even they are rather difficult and expensive to produce and are in the mid-to-high range price-wise. Silk velvets can be quite expensive as can some of the better quality polyester microfibers. "Cut" or "burnout" velvets have designs etched into the fabric though the fuzzy pile to expose the base fabric underneath. Velvet made from cotton is called "velveteen" like the rabbit. Here's a burnout stretch velvet and some regular stretch velvets.
Brocade/Jacquard: Woven fabrics generally made in synthetic or silk blends. They feature a design (flowers, crosses, etc) created through the weaving process. Often people will call these "embroidered" but they are not (embroidery is added to fabric after it's already finished. Brocades and jacquards have the design woven right in to them). Expensive to produce, brocades are often spendy fabrics, and are usually found on corsets and formal wear. If you want to tell if your fabric was jacquard (pronounced "juh-card") woven flip it to the wrong side. The design should still be visible, but in reverse, like a photo negative. Here's a brocade.
Also here.
Polarfleece: Always ployester. Thick, soft, stretchy, very warm, sometimes made from recycled soda bottles and the like. You probably have a jacket made out of this. Or a blanket. I use it sometimes for shrugs. You also see it used a lot in stuffed animals, fingerless gloves, etc. Doesn't unravel when you cut it so it's pretty versatile. Here's a shrug in polarfleece.
Anything I didn't cover that you want to know about? Let me know!
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