How To Choose The Right Fabric For Your Clothing Fabric?

Simplify your fabric selection time by choosing the right clothing fabric for your garment:

1. Consider fabric weight

The weight of the fabric is measured in GSM (grams per square meter), which defines the weight or weight of the fabric. Don't worry, you don't have to weigh fabrics at the store. Measuring fabric weight is a way to measure the thickness of a material and can differentiate between light, medium, or heavy fabrics.

Below are some fabrics defined by category (these categories may vary depending on how the fabric is processed; dyeing and printing can affect the weight of the fabric).

2. Check the fabric drape

Drapability determines how the fabric flows. In other words, stiff fabrics have less drape and fluid fabrics have more drape. simple! But be careful with this word. Wrinkles are often confused with weight, but they are two different factors that affect the appearance of clothing.
A more pleated fabric will allow the skirt to float away from your body, while a soft, pleated fabric will keep the skirt close to your body. For example, if you want a flowy skirt, you should choose a thin, drapey fabric, but if you want a more structured skirt, choose a crisp, chunky fabric.

3. Test the fabric stretch

Stretch is how much your fabric stretches. Fabrics have different elasticity (the ability of textile fibers to "bounce" when stretched). When you choose a fabric that has stretch, you have to make sure it fits your pattern, as it can change the way the final product fits the body.
To measure the stretch of fabric, stretch 5 inches of fabric on a ruler, place one end on the zero mark, then stretch the other end until you feel resistance, then divide that number by the original length of the fabric. Example: If your fabric is stretched to 7.5 inches, it will stretch 2.5 inches from its original length. This is a 50% stretch.