I am both bummed and stupid...

[lovetriangle]

About 6 months ago or more I was in my favorite fabric by the pound place and I found amazing plum velveteen for something like $4/yard. I bought a two yard piece so I could burn test it and it burned up all cotton. I freaked out and went back and bought, I think, 6 more yards so I'd have enough to make a big, fat, English dress. I've been collecting stuff for the project... black silk satin, some blackwork/crewelwork for sleeves, off-white cut velvet for the underskirt, a 2" wide black soutache trim... you get the idea. It was going to be very striking.

*sniff*

I was reorganizing the office so we could actually FIT a sewing room, a guitar studio, and guests in one room, and when I picked up the roll of purple velveteen it did something weird. It stretched under my fingers. That's right, stretched. I grabbed the fabric and pulled and pinched it and it has a slight one-way stretch from selvadge to selvadge. I am devastated, and feel kinda stupid for not noticing it before. And how did the elastic not show during the burn test? ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've thought about using it anyway... if I flatline the bodice, which I would anyway, and have the non-stretch from top to bottom on the skirt, it may still work. But if it doesn't and I fight it... Oh, I shudder to think on it.

crap. crap. mega-crap.

Comments

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

That happened to me too. My mum bought me black cotton velvet for the loose gown from Patterns of Fashion and it turned out to be stretchy. Bu tI don't care, I will line it with something non-stretchy and use it anyway! Since it's a loose gown it's less likely to stretch.

Eva

[sempstress.livejournal.com]

I've made the same mistake. Twice. I don't learn so good, I guess....

The good news is, it works just fine when it's just a little stretch. Stay stitching will be your friend on any curved seams. I didn't flat line skirts or other terrifically large, loose areas. Actually, I think the stretch was an unexpected bonus on the train of the loose gown I did -- people kept stepping on the train (because modern men can't be bothered to be mindful of a gown's train *or* their own swords most of the time), but the stretch in the fabric helped prevent an annoyance from becoming a catastrophe.

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

Nice. LOL!

Yeah, I think it will still work if I keep the stretch running sideways on the skirt. It won't give me the same advantage you mentioned but I won't have to worry about hem length from the fabric's weight. The biggest problem I anticipate is not getting any kind of ruffle of bunching when applying trim in the stretchy direction. I suppose using a non-stretch lining/facing/backing to the trim will help but I'm sure I'll have to do it by hand.

My only other concern is fiber snobbery/tempurature. I am very careful about using all natural fibers because all SoCal faires seem to be at the hottest times of the year. Not very English weather... I wonder how much the elastic warp will up the temp of wearing this stuff.

Then again, knowing me I will have found new fabric for this project in the time it akes me to get around to acutally sewing on it. LOL! Sad but true...

[sempstress.livejournal.com]

Ahem. Glue the trim down. Glue-stick the trimmed area to the lining. Sew after glue dries. Fabri-tac will save your sweet little hiney.

Not that I would ever do that. I most certainly do not have a dress where all the trim is glued down. And I definitely don't have more than one. Honest. I've been told over and over that people can always tell when trims are merely glued down, and I politely agree, tow the party line, and discretely pick glue out from under my fingernails. ;)

And the elastomer content probably will not make you any more noticably uncomfortable than the head to toe velvet would have on it's own. Seriously. I doubt it's true elastic, or that it's the entirity of the warp (you'd have noticed that!). Spandex would be most common right now, and generally runs in the 1-3% range in fiber content. I can look up the specifics in my textile science book if you're really curious, but spandex is so beloved by manufacturers partially because it does not have any gross, negative impact on the wearer. (The viewer, perhaps, but that's different.) And it's used in ludicrously small amounts. I hate to question the official "all natural fibers all the time or you will DIE" logic, but.... Um, you won't. You'll be fine. If you're really worried, you could line your corset with an uber-engineered moisture wicking DuPont product. ;)