Clothes out of upholstery fabric...
Gerry Stacy
Hi all.
I was in Blanks (the local fabric warehouse 'round here) the other day
with a friend, picking out some velvet for a shirt I'm making for her.
Anyway, after picking out the velvet, we went over to the upholstery
section and went browsing through those fabrics. My friend mentioned
that she would love to have a big ball gown or perhaps a really full
skirt made out of one of those heavy upholstery brocades and it really
set my mind to thinkin'. I agree with her that some of those upholstery
fabrics are really marvelous in their detail and grandeur and I BELIEVE
that they could be used to make some pretty neato clothes. I've been
sketching out dresses for about a week now and just bouncing the whole
idea around in my brain. I think that the skirt would have to be pretty
full and grand to show off the fabric to best advantage, but it seems
like this is certainly an option. Granted, it wouldn't be everyday wear,
but it seems like you could make something pretty remarkable and kinda
19th century looking that would really look smashing in one of those
brocaded upholstery fabrics. Besides, I personally dislike those wedding
ensembles (read: bridesmaid's dresses) that are all made out of the same
solid color (miles and miles of fuschia satin *shudder*) shiny fabric and
think that something like grandly patterned, heavy fabric might be the
way to go.
So what does everyone else think? Does this sound like a good idea or am
I about to make my friend a dress that would look better as a curtain?
Also, has anyone tried this before? I know that the thought of wearing a
fabric that's probably been ScotchGuarded is pretty bizarre, but hey -
you could spill coffee on the dress and it would bead up and run off
without staining!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Gerry Stacy | Better the honest mistake of the artist, |
| gst...@peabody.jhu.edu | than the cold perfection of the stylist. |
| | |
| @}-,-`-- | Charles Rennie Mackintosh |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gail Oxton
[background material deleted]
>So what does everyone else think? Does this sound like a good idea or am
>I about to make my friend a dress that would look better as a curtain?
>Also, has anyone tried this before? I know that the thought of wearing a
>fabric that's probably been ScotchGuarded is pretty bizarre, but hey -
>you could spill coffee on the dress and it would bead up and run off
>without staining!
Why am I thinking about Scarlett from "GWTW" and music from
"The Sound of Music" running through my head??? :-)
Seriously, I think the only drawback might be the limitation on possible
cleaning methods (fabric-dependent). Sure, there are probably some patterns
that might be too large for a dress, especially in the bodice area, but I
think your idea is just fine. People buy material from the upholstery
department for vests, so there's nothing wrong with expanding that idea,
especially for a formal gown. BTW, the material is probably NOT ScotchGuarded
(yet--but klutzy me likes this possibility).
---
--Gail
ox...@adrs1.dseg.ti.com (alt ox...@skopen.dseg.ti.com)
All comments are mine mine mine!! However, they may be borrowed
free-of-charge at your own risk for up to 2 weeks, $0.25/day late fee.
Linda Schmidt
I say YES! to upholstery fabraic for clothing!
I've had a lot of success making things like vests out of
upholstery fabrics, particularly brocades and tapestry fabric.
Everyone always exclaims over them and asks me where I got them!
There are some general guidelines I tend to follow when using
the fabric for clothing: I make fairly small items of clothing
which I wear with other plain clothes. For example, a fancy vest
with black pants and shirt. I make skirts but probably
wouldn't make an entire dress out of upholstery fabric - it might
overwhelm me! I also make things with very simple seam lines as
the fabric can be very bulky. Oh, and I also am a vintage fabric
FIEND and I've made some particularly cool vests out of vintage
upholstery.
Linda Schmidt
lsch...@prairienet.com
Joyce McMullin
Off the topic of brocade for ballgowns. My thing is jackets.
I made a Chanel style jacket from a floral tapesty that
frankly, I would never use in my living room! Wouldn't want to make
a skirted suit of it (too much of the "Aunt Minerva's ottoman"
look...no offense to Aunt Minerva).
Looks like a million bucks and always draws compliments.
When working with an upholstery fabric, don't have too much
worked detail...my jacket was collarless and pocketless...or it
will appear overdone. Layered trimming and understitching was a bigger
deal than with most projects to control the volume of fabric.
I had just the teensiest bit (hardly noticeable except to me) of
shrinking from drycleaning, so next time, I will probably have the
fabric drycleaned before I lay out and cut.
Good luck with your project.
Joyce A. McMullin jmcm...@leo.vsla.edu
Lisa A. Reeves
In a previous article, gst...@gigue.peabody.jhu.edu (Gerry Stacy) says:
>So what does everyone else think? Does this sound like a good idea or am
>I about to make my friend a dress that would look better as a curtain?
>Also, has anyone tried this before? I know that the thought of wearing a
>fabric that's probably been ScotchGuarded is pretty bizarre, but hey -
>you could spill coffee on the dress and it would bead up and run off
>without staining!
I work part time in a fabric store. It isn't as outlandish as it sounds...
quite a few people use the upholstry fabrics to sew clothing with. If it
was done to show off the fabric, I'd bet it would be lovely....
--
Margaret Mills
brocades. Some material does not seem to drape well and some seems to wrinkle
easily. Watch out for that and you should be OK. I've never tried ballgowns before
so I have no experience with it. Oh.. and watch out for ironning the fabric. Some
synthetics scorch *very* easily. I once ruined a jacket that I had just completed
when I did the final ironning (grumble, grumble...)
In article l...@jhunix1.hcf.jhu.edu, gst...@gigue.peabody.jhu.edu (Gerry Stacy) writes:
>
---
Margaret Mills | I keep hitting the Escape key.......
LEXIS-NEXIS | but I'm still here !
P. O. Box 933 |
Dayton Ohio, 45401 |
Bill Jones
my only caution would be to watch out for odd coatings on the back of the
fabric...and I'd strongly recommend washing or drycleaning the fabric
first.
years ago I bought a VERY expensive grey wide wale corduroy/velvet (on
sale) and made myself a pair of pants and levi style jacket.
after two or three wearings...the pile of the fabric began to fall out in
the areas where the fabric wrinkled! inner elbow, back of knees etc...it
was very weird...
Bill
...........................................................
Bill Jones, Theatre Arts Department, San Francisco State University
{wsj...@sfsu.edu} (415) 338-1777
"Sometimes it's more important to be human, than to have good taste" Brecht
"Being a good craftsman will in no way prevent you from having Genius"
Renoir
Kerstin L Haug
I've made a couple of things- no dresses or skirts, but a pair of pants
and overalls. My experience is that you just have to be careful what kind of
fabric you choose, since there is alot of variability out there. My overalls
were made from a fabric that has fairly corse threads, and is quite soft and
drapes well. The pants I made were out of a stiffer fabric, and havn't held up
well in some of the seams. I would think you could make anything you want- just
lean toward softer fabrics that drape since upholsery fabric can be really stiff.
As long as it wears well a garment made from upholstery fabric should last for a
long time.
Kerstin
Venus Envy
True to Scarlett, we always used to take old curtains and make wonderful
mini-skirts out of old curtains or tapestry fabric...
It's strong, seems to last forever if you treat it right!
--
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-On the internet, no one knows you're a deity.
http://www.wonderland.com/~goddess/
RNSCH...@delphi.com
A few years back I made a coat out of upholstry fabric and it was terrific!
Then a couple of years ago I used some for the bodices for costume dresses
that a cousin and her daughter wanted to wear at an Elizabethan dinner that
they attended in England and have since worn at their church's festival.
Again, this was successful. I have also used such fabric for several vests
many times over the years. We have a professional repetoire theater here
in town (American Players Theater) with union costume designers from Broadway,
and they too frequently emply these fabrics: heavy, yes, but durable also.
Nancy S. in Wis.
`[1;33;40mRainbow V 1.04 for Delphi - Registered
Luana Lisandro
[material deleted]
: So what does everyone else think? Does this sound like a good idea or am
: I about to make my friend a dress that would look better as a curtain?
: Also, has anyone tried this before?
Five years ago I rediscovered a manchestor fabric store that my mother
use to take me to as a child... the store was practically the same...
And I discovered the most wonderful fabrics such as hankerchief linen
(made a blouse with it)... white jacecard fabric (silk/cotton), which was
used for table linen (made the most wonderful formal dress)...
I asked a friend who worked in an upholstery factory to
bring me offcuts... in the bag of goodies was the most wonderful
floral print (with black background, pastel blues, corals etc)... it
made the most wonderful waistcoat, which always gets noticed... it had
a real old feel/look to it...
I say go for it... but make sure you can wash/iron/sew it... just take
a small sample length (at least 20cm) and try sewing/overlocking it...
also, do several test wash conditions (cold/warm wash and detergents
etc) to find out whether it is washable (you maybe able to check the fabric
docket at the end of the roll)...
Luana
--
++++++ Luana Lisandro ++++++++++++
email: lu...@yarrow.wt.uwa.edu.au|
Perth, Western Australia |
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kari Atkins
>
> In article l...@jhunix1.hcf.jhu.edu, gst...@gigue.peabody.jhu.edu (Gerry Stacy) writes:
>
> [background material deleted]
>
> >So what does everyone else think? Does this sound like a good idea or am
> >I about to make my friend a dress that would look better as a curtain?
> >Also, has anyone tried this before? I know that the thought of wearing a
> >fabric that's probably been ScotchGuarded is pretty bizarre, but hey -
> >you could spill coffee on the dress and it would bead up and run off
> >without staining!
>
> Why am I thinking about Scarlett from "GWTW" and music from
> "The Sound of Music" running through my head??? :-)
I didn't get the original message on this one, so I hope I'm not
responding to something that doesn't make any sense. Anyway, about
5 years ago when my brother got married, his bride asked me to be her
maid-of-honor. The gown she picked out was made of upholstery fabric
for the fitted bodice, and taffeta for the bell skirt. It was gorgeous!
In fact we liked it so much that my boyfriend and I decided to get
married the same day!! (The only drawback to this, was that I got
married in the dress, but he was only wearing jeans and cowboy boots,
so now, I can't talk him into wearing a tux for anything. He keeps
saying that if he didn't need it for the wedding, why should he need
one now?! Argh! I created a monster!)
Hope the dress works out for you!
Kari
Denise Taylor,x4824,SPB
to launder it, how would you do it? Even dry cleaning doesn't
guarantee no shrinkage, and the upholstery fabrics I have seen
look really sad when they lose their body. Would you pre-clean
the fabric before making the dress? How do you keep the dress
looking full and lovely and still be able to clean it?
Denise
Marj O'Meara
Denise, I have made things from upholstery fabric in the past, but I would never buy fabric that couldn't be washed or dry-cleaned. If you're going to put that much work into a garment, why risk having it fade, go limp, or fall apart later? It would be worth it to ask for a sample or buy a small amount, then try your preferred cleaning method on it. And yes, I *always* prepare my fabric by washing/cleaning and straightening to grain first.
Good luck!
Marj
Marjorie O'Meara ETI Austin
"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple...
...and pick the flowers in other people's gardens,
and learn to spit." From "Warning" by Jenny Joseph
Janet Sweeting
and I made lots of shifts from all cotton slip cover prints. As I was
sorting things last week I found a few favorites I had saved as well as
scraps and the colors were wonderful. They were comfortable like a
broadcloth, not good for much styling thought because the cloth was thick.
Don't know if this helps because the cloth may have changed.
Janet
EMAIL - Janet.S...@YALE.EDU
Peabody Museum of Natural History
New Haven, CT 06520-8118
203/432-3777
Marie-Christine Mahe
retrospect I'd do it again, with one caveat - I'd stick to jackets. Often I
made dresses that came out too stiff... But many upholstery fabrics would
make gorgeous jackets, and be the right weight too.
Something else to keep in mind when choosing upholstery vs dressmaking fabric
is an obscure thing I read in Threads? a few years back that really got my
notice. Apparently, standards are different for these, and while upholstery
fabric is supposed to withstand a measly 40 hours of sunshine without fading,
dressmaking fabrics are only held up to TWENTY hours of daylight without any
change! Now we all know some fabrics are better quality than others, but
these standards seem pretty pathetic to me. I do expect a garment to last,
looking good, at least as long as the time I put into it :-).
On the other hand, what I really want is one of those tapestry bags to carry
my knitting in...
Lara J Fabans
Joyce McMullin <jmcm...@leo.vsla.edu> wrote:
>I made a Chanel style jacket from a floral tapesty that
>frankly, I would never use in my living room! Wouldn't want to make
I love the idea of the simplicity of it, but I must
ask...What did you bind it with? When I think of a Chanel
style jacket, I picture contrasting binding.
And what do you wear it with? Did you sew a matching
skirt out of the tapestry?
Lara
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/\ /\ | la...@sgi.sgi.com (Lara Fabans) ESS Silicon Graphics, Inc
. . |--------------------------------------------------------------
= = | can also be reached at Lar...@eworld.com
Joyce McMullin
> In article <1995Jan31.1...@leo.vsla.edu>,
> Joyce McMullin <jmcm...@leo.vsla.edu> wrote:
> >I made a Chanel style jacket from a floral tapesty that
> >frankly, I would never use in my living room! Wouldn't want to make
>
> I love the idea of the simplicity of it, but I must
> ask...What did you bind it with? When I think of a Chanel
> style jacket, I picture contrasting binding.
>
> And what do you wear it with? Did you sew a matching
> skirt out of the tapestry?
Interesting thread we have going here.
The jacket is collarless (jewel neckline), ventless, and pocketless. It is
slightly below waistlength and has 5 buttons down the front. No
I didn't make a skirt, preferring not to look like Aunt
Minerva's ottoman or better still, "here comes the chair!" It is
a multi-color small floral on a black ground and looks great with a black
skirt, either full or slim, and looks great with black slacks.
Standing collar or tie collar blouses are the way to go, I've also worn
it buttoned up without a blouse underneath. The pattern I used
is a positively ancient favorite (I'm sure we all have a few of
those) for that kind of jacket. Yes, the "Chanel" type
signature is contrast binding, goldtone buttons, etc. The
buttons are small shiny black and I did not even consider a
contrast binding.
Joyce A. McMullin jmcm...@leo.vsla.edu
Joyce Miller
Marie-Christine Mahe, mahe-marie...@yale.edu writes:
>change! Now we all know some fabrics are better quality than others, but
>these standards seem pretty pathetic to me. I do expect a garment to last,
>looking good, at least as long as the time I put into it :-).
DANGER! WARNING! DANGER! WARNING!
I once made a dress out of some very nice drapery fabric that I
had to special order. It was very expensive, so I was very
careful about how much I ordered. Since it was 100% cotton, and
was going to become something to be worn, I washed it on a
delicate cycle, and let it drip dry, then ironed it.
IT SHRANK 12%.
Since it was a special order, I was NOT able to return it, and I
ended up with a very short dress. The store just shrugged, and
said that some companies stretch while sizing their fabrics. The
moral? Buy extra.
-- Joyce
jmi...@genome.wi.mit.edu
curtis brothers
Scarlet spell her name with 1 t or 2?)
A friend of mine is making a vest out of upholstery brocade. She was
careful to get something not too loosely woven.
Threads has a nice bit on embellishing such fabric with beads and
embroidery.
I like the idea.
I vaguely remember seeing a clip on tv about fantasy
costumes? costumers who got together with a show or contest featuring
strange and wonderful fabric, styles and designs? Anyone else know more
about this?
Pat Brothers
NYC
Roots
>From: whit...@mindvox.phantom.com (curtis brothers)
>Subject: Re: Clothes out of upholstery fabric...
>Date: 2 Feb 1995 14:12:04 -0500
I once saw a fashion show in which every outfit had been made out of sheets.
Some of them were absolutely beautiful. They even had a wedding dress. They
set up the stage in the bedding dept. with the displays around it. It was a
great success.
R.