Sewing Tips and Tricks

FIBER TYPES

• Wool is shorn from the sheep. 
• Cotton is grown as a crop, picked, cleaned, spun.
• Hemp is grown as a crop. Can be semi synthetic.
• Bamboo or Bamboo Rayon is a manufactured fiber.    
• Rayon is a manufactured fiber made from wood pulp.
• Modal is a manufactured fiber made from beech trees.
• Tencel or lyocell is a cellulose fiber, made from eucalyptus trees.

GSM

• Grams per square meter
• The larger the number the heavier the fabric is
• A good sweatshirt fleece would be at least 300 gsm
• A man’s undershirt about 120gsm

 

Give and Stretch

• One-way: stretch on the crossgrain.
• Two way: stretch in 2 directions.
• Four-way: Stretch in all directions, across, lengthwise and on bias.
• Stretch matters-patterns designed for knits generally have fewer pieces and less shaping details. 
• Woven patterns will not allow for the stretch that knits do.
• Fold your fabric perpendicular to  the selvage.

 

• Hold the fold over the ruler, placing one edge at 0, the other at 6”.

 

• Stretch the fold until the fabric is taunt, note measurement.

If it stretches from 6 to 6 1/2" = 8%

If it stretches from 6" to 7" = 16%

If it stretches from 6" to 8" = 30%

If it stretches from 6" to 9" = 50%

If it stretches from 6” to 12” = 100% 

 

Along the grain (in the length):

Fold your fabric parallel with the finished edge of the fabric (selvage), away from the edge