A word of warning

I know I said it was ok to use upholstery fabric, and I know I said that as long as it looks right……..

Big BUT!

A friend of mine is going to a wedding in Finland next month and they have been asked to dress in traditional Nordic clothes so she asked me if I would make her an outfit.  Now as she is a very good friend that helps out whenever she is asked, she is a person I would never refuse. So we discussed, at length, what kind of fabric she needed for a Viking apron dress.   You know, natural fabrics like wool, linen or cotton were what I suggested. 

She turned up at my house very pleased with herself a few weeks ago with some fabric given to her by an old lady she knows.  It was upholstery fabric, it was very thick upholstery fabric and one of the upholstery fabrics was a thick cord!  Now I am all for using what you have, but this is for a wedding and it is to be worn all day not for a two hour performance!

I grunted a bit and suggested it was not quite the fabrics I had said but she was pleased with her bargain basement gift and was not going to be put off.  So I then went into ‘well you asked for it’ mode and said nothing more.  Stage one of apron dress was a very thick woven fabric to be made into an undertunic.  I spent the morning measuring and cutting out and sewed it all together.  After turning it in the right way I noticed a bit of seam was undone.  Not exactly sure how I could have done this I sewed it again, turned it in the right way and noticed a bit of seam was undone.  Getting a bit tense at this stage, I sewed it again, turned it the right way and noticed a bit of seam was undone.  In fact pretty much every seam was undone.  In fact, the fabric was such a loose weave that even the overlocker wasn’t stopping the seams unravelling!

I text my friend and told her it was just not happening with this stuff and we are going out on Tuesday to get what I suggested in the first place. 

I then moved onto stage two, the apron itself and I am now struggling with the ultra-thick cord which is going to have the movement of a lump of wood.  She will be hot, she will be uncomfortable, but she will have saved herself £10 so who am I to argue?

The reason I am telling you about this is simple.  If you are going to use upholstery fabric make sure that it is suitable for the purpose given it!  My upholstery silk looks lovely and moves right; it just feels a bit plasticky.  The fabric for the blue Belle skirt is thick, but not too thick for her to move in.  Please make sure that the fabric you use is not going to cause problems for the wearer, even if it is only for the duration of the performance.

As for my friend, she will still be wearing something extremely hot and uncomfortable and maybe next time she will understand that you need the appropriate fabrics for the job!  Of course, having wasted so much of my time making something I knew was not suitable, there may not be a next time.