Fabric for Fashion: The Swatch Book, Second Edition

Product Information

It took me a weekend of pre-washing all the unwashed fabrics + the ones I was unsure about and created a template to keep everything organized. I thought I'd share a bit about the process and notes on how and why you should create a swatch library. But let's start at the very beginning... What is a swatch of fabric? If you are just getting your feet wet with sewing, I’d recommend instead Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina. It doesn’t have the swatches in it, but it’s a much more helpful to sewists. I write a full review of it in Sewing books for beginners that are actually helpful. This is also great if you are looking for fabrics to compliment each other from colours to tectures to designs. You can have a swatch in your book and take it to compare alongside other fabrics. Details To Include In Your Fabric Swatch Book

It depends on the shop. Most fabrics watches I've bought online were around 5 x 5 cm / 2" x 2", But when I bought wholesale would often receive larger fabric swatches up to a4 / letter size. However, if I'm cutting into a new piece of fabric I mostly cut off a small sliver of fabric to avoid cutting into the fabric too much. Fabric swatches are a cheap or free way for you to get your hands on a veritable mountain of fabric! The easiest source of swatches is what you already have. Whatever fabric you’re using, save a scrap for the future. You can do this with every fabric you sew. The possibilities are off course endless, but it highly depends on your needs. here are a few ideas to inspire your own system.You never know how the fabric feels, what the color actually looks like, how the fabric drapes, washes or handles until you get your hands on it. For some projects, it's OK to take a gamble, but when you are working with expensive fabrics, that's not a risk I'm willing to take. But once you have all these fabric swatches, how do you store and organize them? In a fabric swatch library or a fabric swatch book! I promised I’d share a done-for-you option in case the idea of making your own fabric swatch book is not your cup of tea. This is a fantastic reference book. It has swatches in categories of fabric. It’s quite comprehensive, and there’s text explaining each fabric.

For this project, you’ll need the Fabric Swatch Book Template. I just added it to the Resource Library.I’ve taken a couple of classes from Sarah Veblen on Patternreview. One is Understanding Knits and another that’s she’s not currently teaching on sheer fabrics. In each of those, there’s a kit of swatches for the class. As someone who has collected my own little mountain of swatches over time, I know that they need some help in the organization department.

It’s best to have a variety of swatches within that. They can be anything. Go for what interests you! Use the fabric you have for future swatches A handy tip to help against fraying and curling edges, add a strip of tape before you cut out your swatch.This is particularly helpful if you are working with knits. Care instructions – how to wash it, temperature, dry clean only and ironing – this will help make your fabric last longer. A swatch library or a fabric swatch book is where you catalogue your fabric swatches and write down the details of a certain fabric for future reference. Why create a swatch book? After that, print out as many copies of the Fabric Swatch Book Template as you like. I did 10 for this first batch which will hold 50 swatches. 3. Label and organize your swatchesI share it with this caveat: It’s my opinion that this book is maybe not the most helpful for someone starting out sewing. I say that because it’s #1 more expensive than most sewing books. #2 The designer fashion pictures in the book might not be the most relatable for someone just starting out sewing. #3 There’s also not a lot of helpful sewing information particular to those fabrics.