Working and Sewing with Cotton Fabrics

Cotton is my favorite fabric to work with. I like to work with 100 % cotton that is woven and doesn't stretch. That is the best fabric for beginner sewers to use. It's easy to cut, easy to pin, and easy to sew.  Let's look at the most popular used type of cotton fabrics and talk about their uses.

Printed 100 % light weight cotton fabric is printed on the top. That is why the colors are faded on the "wrong" side or "ugly" side. This is my favorite fabric to work with.  This fabric can be used for crafts or clothing. This piece of fabric would be great for a cute sun dress. The picture shown is 2 girls who made peasant tops out of light weight cotton.

Denim fabric comes both light weight and heavy weight. The heavier weight might be used for a pair of jeans or a denim jacket. The lighter weight could be used for crafts of clothing, like seen in this denim skirt I made.

Homespun fabric is fabric that is spun together with threads so there is no "ugly" side on this type of fabric. This fabric is great if you love "country" crafts. This type of fabric would be great to use in a country kitchen.  I use it for my "primitive doll clothes" I make as seen in the snowman's shirt.

Corduroy for the most part is considered a "Fall or Winter" fabric.  It is a heavier fabric that jackets, pants, shirts, and coats are usually made from.  Corduroy has a "knap". If you feel the fabric one way, it feels smooth, while if you push your hand the other way it feels rough.  You must make sure that all of the hem or bottom of you pattern pieces are all facing the same direction. This will make sure the knap of your fabric is all the same direction.  The picture is a printed corduroy skirt I made.

Flannel is fun to work with.  Flannel is a cotton with a soft feel to the top. Flannel is most known for pajamas and men's button up work shirts.

Muslin is great for crafts, or clothing like an apron, or a bonnet from the 1800's. I also use muslin for the back of a lot of my quilts. I use muslin for ALL of my doll bodies as you can see with this Nurse raggedy doll that I made. I also "tea-stain" my muslin to make it look "old" for my primitive dolls. Muslin is also wonderful for draping garments on a dress form while designing.

Cotton fabric:

COTTON is cool, soft, and comfortable fabric.  It is the main clothing fiber used all over the world. Cotton "breathes." Cotton also wrinkles bad, so polyester was added so that one could "wash and wear" it with ease.