Cotten Sateen

To be exact, stretch cotton sateen - 96% cotton and 4 % spandex - though I find that there are a number of interlopers in this category which have a high percentage of polyester but still look very similar.

I love this fabric. It is available in a number of fabric stores but I usually buy it in Spotlight. It comes in a range of patterns and plains which change from season to season but there is rarely any matching plains to go with the patterns - very annoying. It is wide - 2 passes across the fabric will get you a full pleated skirt.

The reason I love this fabric is that it is just so lovely to sew. It is heavy enough that it holds it's shape and the seams don't pull but soft enough that it is easy to manoeuvre through the machine. It takes creases well which makes pleating and turning up hems easy but doesn't crush too much. The fabric is dense enough that provided you wear flesh coloured underwear you don't need to line the garments (though a good lining always feels lovely in a dress or skirt).

Cotton sateen is a good weight for either dresses or structured skirts (pleats, pencil, a-line or a few gathers - no good for flowing designs). Being a mainly natural fibre it is breathable in summer and not too cold in winter. It hangs nicely. It can be machine washed, though I always hand wash things I have put the effort into making. It is easy to iron and not too expensive to buy. Great all-round fabric.

One day I may get around to posting pictures of this fabric made up. I have a lovely navy blue, pleated skirt which I wear all the time made out of it.

Dreams of a Little Yellow Dress

I was walking past some shops last week on a lovely spring day. The kind of day that makes you want to put away all your winter clothes and bring out summer dresses and sandals. (Unfortunately it started raining and being cold later in the week.) In the window of a very cute dress shop was a yellow dress with white spots. It looked so like Spring that I wanted a yellow and white dress.

A couple of days later I went to my favourite fabric store and bought some white broderie anglais for the top of a dress and some butter yellow cotton sateen for the skirt (and some happy yellow linen just because it was there and there was only a bit left on the roll.) I went to another fabric store a few days later to help  my sister choose some fabric for a skirt and found on their discount table a roll of pastel yellow broderie anglais and got 1.4m of it for only $1.40 (discount +30% off +put through at remnant price), score! So now I think that I have enough yellow for this summer. I just have to make it all up. I have shrunk the fabric so watch this space for developments on the dresses.