Musings On Fabric

I only have some musings for my entry today, which is pretty much the worst kind of blog entry. I mean, the last thing you want to read about are my thoughts. Right? You want action! You want pictures! You want progress!!

Well, I’m sad to say that today I have none of that.

Unless you consider putting thread on a bobbin progress, which is something I did on my lunch break today. Not really worthy of a photo, that’s for sure.

My musings today center around the fabric for the body suit, and its color. So far, I have not yet found a color I am 100% happy with. I have found a few nice ones, but none are perfect. I’ve already had the discussion about screen accurate vs. screen seen, and how I am leaning MUCH more toward screen seen. With that said, it makes my life easier, as all I have to do is find a color that my eye is happy with. Even that is proving difficult.

I have however found a fabric that I am VERY happy with. In fact, the very first fabric I ordered included a heavy weight milliskin that is just amazing. The color is a tad too dark, but the fabric is great. It occurred to me that perhaps the right answer at this juncture is to get the fabric in white, and then dye it the appropriate color. I’ve had good experience lately with dye, and a little research revealed that there is a simple and alternative technique available for dying non cotton based fabrics. I don’t think it will be too challenging, and that route is starting to sound more and more attractive to me.

I have one more set of swatches on their way to me. If I do not find the perfect fabric by then, I will commit to going down the dye path, or to picking one from the swatches I already have. What I do not want to do is find myself putting the project on hold for the next ten years until I can find a perfect color match. I think that is an illusion, and will not happen.

So that is what I am thinking about today. I’m going to try to do some tests with the sewing machine tonight, just to get it up and running. I got some more supplies over the weekend, and also took a good look at my pattern for the body suit. I don’t think it will be too difficult. I think the biggest challenge will be the overlock stitch. I do not know if my machine will do one that will hold up to the rigors of stretchy fabrics. The goal of my current sewing machine is to do the cape. If I have to buy a serger for the body suit, so be it.