Featured Fabric - All About Polar Type Fleece

It’s time to feature yet another great fabric. Today, let’s talk fleece. This is a rather long post, written on one of the coldest days of the year in my home town. So, grab a cup of something hot and enjoy a fabric foray into the warm and fuzzy world of fleece.

Yes, it’s true you see fabric called fleece everywhere. Commonly called “polar type” fleece, you may have already created something from this versatile, functional fabric. Visit your local big box fabric store and you will likely see mountains of fleece fabric. The popularity of fleece has grown over the years and I don’t see this stopping anytime soon. Because this is considered a ravel proof fabric, we even see non-sewing enthusiasts enthusiastically purchasing two coordinates of this fabric and finishing the edges by simply snipping slits along each side, and then tying knots for a fluffy fringed look. The availability of fun prints and licensed collegiate styles has really boosted sales of fleece. Its appeal spans the generations as all age categories love to cuddle under cozy, comfortable fleece. From simple blankets to stylish garments, fleece is a modern day wonder fabric suitable for many home sewn projects.

My first glimpse of what I now call “genuine fleece” occurred about the same time that machine embroidery became popular in the home sewing market. I fondly recall a visit to the great Northwest in 1996. I haven’t done any extensive investigation but it seems to me the popularity of fleece started in that neck of the woods. I remember visiting a well known, large fabric shop where I saw a room stacked high with a virtual mountain of fleece fabric. In fact, I was so astonished I had to take a picture to show my sewing friends back home.

As often happens, practicality meets fashion, sports enthusiasts and city dwellers alike adopted this fabric as fashionable favorite. Of course today we are used to seeing fleece everywhere, not only in ready-to-wear, but in all the big box fabric stores. There are many weights, varieties, and brands of fleece fabric. You may have your own particular favorite.

For my Warm and Wearable Fleece Wrap, in the book Wrapped in Embroidery, I chose to use what I call the real McCoy, genuine Polartec® fleece. This warm, cozy, and classy looking wrap is made from Polartec® Classic 200 double velour fleece. Specifically, I used sable brown Polartec® Classic 200 double velour fleece.

In my opinion there really is nothing like the “real thing” when it comes to fleece fabric. This may be available to you in a brick and mortar fabric shop and I always suggest shopping local first. However, if you cannot purchase locally you can purchase directly from the manufacturer. Mill Yardage™ LLC is Malden Mills home sewing supplier of yard goods for the home sewing market.

This fabric is proudly made in America with Malden Mills rich history and reputation. 

There is so much to love about this fabric. It is super easy to care for, lends itself to styles that range from casual to almost couture, and comes in a beautiful range of colors. Fleece is a fabric that both new and seasoned sewing enthusiasts can appreciate. In my opinion, when you compare genuine fleece side by side with mass market imported fleece you will see and feel the difference immediately. Yes, the cost of the genuine Polartec® fleece is more than what you will find in the chain stores. However, as a sewing enthusiast you have the opportunity to sew something that will stand the test of time, and stay beautiful for many years to come. I have never seen any of my Polartec® pieces pill or fade. Most often, when I sew a garment I want to keep it and enjoy it for a long time. That’s why I prefer the real McCoy, genuine Polartec® fleece.

Embroidery on this fabric is easy but it is important to use designs that do not sink into the nap of the fabric. The satin stitch style motifs you see on my Warm and Wearable Fleece Wrap were designed to be the perfect match for this fleece.

I encourage you to try making something yourself using "genuine fleece." It's likely you'll be convinced as I was that there is no better choice when it comes to choosing fleece fabric.

Sewing is not time consuming or difficult on this fabric although I would beg to differ with those who say fleece is easy to sew. Of course anything is easy when you know how! You just need to know a few tricks for handling this type of fabric. You can visit my Tips and Techniques page to download a Free Fleece Tip sheet. This tip sheet will help you learn more about sewing and embroidering on fleece. Click on the link below:

FREE Fleece Tip Sheet

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Welcome to the first post on letsgosew.com! 

Featured Fabric - All About Rayon Batik
I continue to get lots of comments and questions about the wraps featured in my book, Wrapped in Embroidery. I would like to give you a bit of information about the fabrics I used for each of the 9 wraps included in the book. Let's start with the rayon wrap featured on the cover. I think you will agree that the model looks gorgeous wearing this purple hued wrap. Little did I know at the time I made the wrap that the color purple would play such an important role in 2014. Pantone has indeed named a shade of purple as the color of the year for 2014. If you have skimmed the content of letsgosew.com you have seen a bit of puple of purple scattered across the pages.  Not that it is my all time favorite color, but it is soothing, pretty, and yes it certainly is one of my favorites.

Curious about the fabric I chose for the Batik Beauty? The wrap garment featured on the cover of my book, Wrapped In Embroidery, is made using rayon batik from Indonesian Batiks. This fabric is classified as a No-Motif batik. Meaning it has no pattern stamped on the fabric. I would say this fabric yardage has more of a tie dye look to it. Make no mistake, the colors are subdued, yet elegant with a mixture of complimentary colorations. 

Vicki Hawkinson, owner and operator of indobatiks.com has a fabulous collection of rayon, cotton, and even knit batik fabrics. Beautiful rayon batik fabric is easy to sew, easy to embroider and feels wonderful to wear.  As an added bonus,  this fabric is also very easy to care for. No fuss, just machine wash and dry! Rayon batik fabric is colorfast and requires little more than a light ironing with a steam iron. The decriptive label shipped with the fabric says this: Each batik fabric is hand-dyed and unique. Wash in warm soapy water . . . all dyes are colorfast. Machine wash and dry.

Everyone who sees and touches this fabric falls in love with it. Simply put, a wrap made from this fabric looks and feels fabulous!!! This rayon wrap is one of my absolute favorite garments from the book. I currently have one in the pretty purple and another made up in a tropical blue. Next on my list to make from this same rayon batik is a red wrap and charcoal wrap. Once I complete these four I will have one to coordinate with absolutely everything in my wardrobe! Because the fabric is perfect for all four seasons, I know I will wear each and every one of these on many different occasions. You will find that this style wrap, as well as the remaining wraps featured in the book look great dressed up or down.

CLICK HERE to read the complete Indonesian Batiks blog post for January 2014.

Featured fabric is Amethyst Jewel - RBF05702H