Today’s National Sewing Month Project (a lesson, actually) is brought to you by Angel Peterson from FleeceFun.
In this sewing lesson, Angel will explain the aspects parts of fabric. This is an important beginning sewing lesson that will help with any sewing pattern you are working on. She will explain cross grain, selvage edge, and what the “wrong” sides are. The video below will explain everything, and don’t forget that we have lots of great lessons and tutorials on our YouTube Channel, including more from Angel coming soon.
Once you’ve got down the basics of your fabric, you’ll be able to confidently choose fabrics for all your sewing projects, whether you are going to learn how to sew a dress or make a baby quilt.
Some related lessons that we think will be helpful once you learn about the anatomy of fabric:
How to Choose the Proper Thread
If you need help choosing thread to use in your sewing projects, read this sewing thread comparison to learn the difference between different types of sewing thread.
Choosing the Right Fabrics for your Quilt
Perhaps the most important part of learning how to make a quilt is selecting to fabrics to incorporate in each piece. It’s easy to design your own quilt when you know a few simple guidelines to choosing fabrics for a quilt. This article describes how to select fabrics for color value, print scale, intensity, and color.
Choosing the Best Colors for your Quilt
One of the first steps in making a quilt is choosing your color scheme, which isn’t always easy. Simplify the process with this tutorial for Choosing Warm and Cool Colors, a handy approach to making simple quilt patterns that all skill levels will appreciate.
Today’s DAILY GIVEAWAY is a great prize pack including a Pedal-Stay, COATS thread and a decorative tin.
Official Rules for Daily Contest
- There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
- Winner will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post below.
- You have until tonight, September 7th, 2015 at 11:59p EST to leave your comment on this post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada.
Enter daily for your chance to win the National Sewing Month 2015 Grand Prize Giveaway.
Describe your favorite piece of fabric. Color, design, type… let us know!
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I just love the Burlap Brights Cottons which look like burlap but are actually cotton – love the red. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com
I used to make period costume hats and my favorite fabric is panne velvet. Loved the rich colors, the nap and feel, the ease of making it fit the pattern and form I was using. And I love soft. Cuddle fabrics are another favorite just because of the soft. Thanks.
I just love quilting cottons. And anything to do with honey bees makes me happy… although really all fabric makes me happy. 🙂
I love two sided jacquard in deep blues and creams .it is so rich great for bedspreads curtains, pillows, even wallpaper .not all in the same room that would be overwhelming .
I love the look and feel of micro suede in a beautiful brown.
Most recently I’ve been using flannels to make baby bibs. Otherwise I like various cottons.
I love flannel. It reminds me of getting into my PJ’s after a bath on a cold night up north. It’s a comfort fabric for me but it has many uses as well. I have many flannel shirts, sheets, and am making a quilt and am excited about it.
I have recently started dressmaking so at present am sticking to cottons which are easy to work with and come in such an array of colours and prints. I like the cotton blends and stretch cottons x
My favorite piece of fabric is usually the one I’m holding or looking at that moment. I love soft, drape and soft colors. I also like texture and dense colors when weather turns colder and I think about warm clothes. I Do not sew with corduroy anymore, no matter what the color.
I love good quality quilting cotton for all of my quilts, and recently have discovered cotton voile which has a magical drape that I use for skirts and dresses.
Pauline
I love all the different hues from pink to purple. They make me think of summer & my first love, my husband of 27 years. 🙂 Thank you for reminding me.
ok!,i love all fabrics,can’t describe the feeling of holding a piece of material and my mind goes in overdrive of its potential——-love all you sewist out there,pass on your knowledge—–
presently, my favorite fabric has been polar fleece and anti pill fleece. recently i made 2 character (a butterfly and a turtle) rag quilts one for my newly grand niece and the other for my grand nephew. for my niece i used an assortment of colors (pink, lt yellow, jewel blue, lime, orange and a printed fleece with all the above colors) little did i know that her room had decor of butterflies. for the second one i used hues of blues and a printed fleece. upon completion of these projects i made another fleece quilt for another niece. this blanket consisted of 180 (5×5 squares). I used an assortment of greens and blues fleece, gray and black since this was to be a minecraft creeper themed blanket. as for the back I used teal colored fleece. had some extra fleece so i made some pillows to go with her minecraft theme. In reality i love all fabrics! love the challenge in deciding what to make with them then i cut and sew.
There’s a kate and birdie collection called autumn woods that I just love. My favorite print is blue magnolia
My favorite piece of fabric? It’s one I have not seen in over 40 years. I shaded from palest green to palest blue going through all the stages to deepest green an blue. For me, it was, and is the most beautiful piece of fabric. I have tried to recreate this piece by sewing and dying and have never been able to do so. It represents the peace of the ocean, the water with sun and shadow. I would love to see it in glossed cotton, not metallic, but glossy. It would make a beautiful whole cloth quilt, with the fabric shading you could quilt in so many different patterns, make it the earth and sky, water and wind, quilt in fish and birds. That is my dream, to see this fabric.
Anything lime green or orange! Didn’t realize how much I loved that until looking for a piece of fabric & found so many prints, solids, etc. in that family! Esp. love the batiks!
I love sewing with Satin because it means I’m sewing something special for someone.
My favourite piece of fabric is a beautiful 100% cotton solid colour fabric – Kona Snow. I use this fabric all the time. It’s not a bright white, or cream but a very soft white that goes with almost any other colour. I should have bought a bolt of Kona Snow when I first started quilting 30 years ago!
I love bright colors and mixing them up to make squares, etc for quilting. I love making different designs with solids and prints
I love good quality 100% cotton fabrics that I use in quilts, but also like soft fabrics for clothing as well as beautiful woolens. I love to walk thru the fabric store and just fondle the various fabrics!
I purchased one yard of quilting fabric with absolutely no idea as to what I was going to do with it. It’s a pale pink with gray/black/cream design – very French looking and ultra feminine. It’s been with me for two years now and I have high hopes of making a quilt or a future granddaughter but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. I guess we’ll wait and see what comes of it.
I like quilting cottons. My favorite are ones that are tonal prints.
I like the ombré quilting cottons. They are so soft and have so many shades of color to work with
I like the ombré quilting cottons. They are so soft and have so many shades of color to work with.
I loooove colors & print…florals & novelty things…but anything Gingham is definitely a Fave!!! 🙂 (& secondly Flannel! Love making Jammie’s & baby things, & quilts with Flannels)
My favorite sewing thread is Coats and Clark…perfect for me! Currently, my favorite piece of fabric is a quilting cotton with a black background. It has large flowers all over it printed in multiple bright colors. So pretty!
My favorite piece of fabric at the moment is a Jo Morton piece of shirting fabric. It’s this gorgeous cream colored background, with dusty navy, swirly paisleys on it. I’ve used it all up, and I wish I had more!
I love cute traditional floral prints in blues, purples and pinks.
I love cotton batiks in blues and purples and greens. Thanks for the great post on the anatomy of fabrics. I learned something new!
I really don’t have a favorite piece of fabric because I love all fabric. Thanks for the great giveaway.
I love quilting cottons,any and all designs and colors. I’m a scrappy Quilter.
Dmac5958ataoldotcom
My favorite piece of fabric is any piece of cotton containing happy, bright colors, most often with pinks and purples, This makes me happy, knowing I am sewing up a quilt or project for someone special.
It’s a line of quilting cotton from Benartex called Butterfly Forest and it’s wistful, playful, feminine and PURPLE! Need I say more? hahaha
My favorite fabric is schwee schwee, an african fabric usually in indigo and white. I love anything made by Three Leopards.
My favorite- at the moment- is a small piece of Liberty of London I just received in a package. Now I understand what all the fuss is about- I could pet it all day!
I love all colours of batiks!!!
My favorite fabrics are always from Moda. They are so soft and silky. The colors are so rich and vibrant, and that always makes it a pleasure to work with. My current favorites are the pieces in the fat quarter bundle of Horizon, designed by Kate Spain. The colors are inspired by sea glass, and the designs are gorgeous. My husband bought me this bundle last year for my birthday, and it’s so beautiful that I haven’t even cut into it yet. But soon it will be transformed into a quilt for a dear friend.
I love ponte knits right now. All the benefit of the stretch and comfort, but stable enough to make them easier to sew than a lot of other knits.
I absolutely love poplin cotton blends! I can make anything from jackets to pillows with this interchangable fabric!
My fav fabric depends on the project, of course. I like prints that can line up nicely for projects. I steer clear of stripes, usually.
Batiks are my favorite, has to be multi shaded/colored and the stamp has to have a pretty design in different colors. I like the orange and purple ones the most.
As a kid, my mother had purchased a bolt of cotton (36″ wide) that had a quilted print. We made tablecloths, curtains, etc. I loved that print so much that I went on to become a quilter to achieve the same look (only better) as the print on the old cotton.
I love quilting cottons in bold colors and patterns. I also love cute birdie prints and woodland animals in flannel!