Why fabric decides the fate of your product

Fabric is what your customer touches, sees and washes. In most pieces it is the biggest cost line. If you get it wrong, a beautiful design will not save you.

What fabric decides

• The feel, the comfort and the way it falls on the body.
• The look after washing and wear: shrinkage, creasing and pilling.
• The price: the cost of the fabric, of sewing it and of the waste.
• The season: what suits a hot summer differs from what suits winter.
• Ease of production and care.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a fabric from a photo without a swatch in your hand.
• Settling for a general name like “cotton” without the construction and weight.
• Forgetting that a fabric on display does not mean it is available in your quantity and colour.

How this course runs

We will understand fibres, then choose, then test, then source and cost, then build a fabric library that keeps your decisions and makes every later collection easier.

Exercise

Write three qualities the fabric of your main piece must have (for example: does not cling, survives washing, falls softly). You will come back to them in every lesson.