Whether you draft your own patterns or sew from commercial offerings, choosing the fabrics for your garments calls for you to be the designer. This can be one of the most fun—and challenging—steps of sewing your own clothes. Beginners and experts will likely never know the answer to “how will this fabric work with this design?” before testing the material. I’ve been studying fabrics for nearly 30 years, and it’s a never-ending education.

But that’s one of the things I love most about sewing. It is a lifelong learning experiment where I get to be a sewing scientist. If you have a stash of fabrics for future projects, that’s a great place to start playing around and doing some detective work. However, even if you haven’t yet purchased the fabric you’re considering for your project, you can experiment and make educated decisions: There’s this magical opportunity called swatching.

Small but mighty

A swatch, by definition, is a small piece of fabric used for considering a textile’s suitability to the planned project. The image that comes to mind of fabric swatches might have them scattered around a fancy designer’s sketch or mood board. Swatching is a great way to familiarize yourself with the colors and textures of various fabrics.

I think evaluating swatches before making fabric decisions can be especially helpful for those who sew their own clothes. We not only want our garments to look good, we want to feel good wearing them, and we want to have fun while sewing them. We can use small samples to teach ourselves about the many options, as we learn to pay attention to our own preferences for looks, comfort, and enjoyment of the sewing process.

Fantasy Fabric Shopping

Each of us dreams of the perfect purchase. In this fantasy, you stroll through a well-curated, nearby fabric store, filled with fabulous garment sewing choices in unlimited quantities. You run your fingers over the options, you surround yourself with yardage by a naturally lit, full-length mirror, mix and match, listen and learn. You thank the helpful staff as you walk out with the perfectly priced yardage of your dreams and get right to sewing up a stellar new garment.

That’s unrealistic but ultradreamy. Yet, I’d argue that swatching could make this fantasy scenario closer to a reality. If the store, whether online or at a walk-in location, offers a swatch, consider taking them up on it.

Listening to fabric with your eyes, fingers, and heart can be one of the most thrilling aspects of the sewing process—even if it’s just a scrap.

 

Become a Fabric Expert

Don’t just look at the swatches you collect. Put them to use to determine if they are suited to the garment you want to sew.

Qualitative assessment

Especially when you are shopping online, a swatch offers you the opportunity to evaluate a fabric’s unique color, opacity, weight, sheen, and feel. You can physically compare your options to other fabrics that you might include in the project or fabrics you’ve enjoyed wearing in the past.

To help me decide if my swatched fabric is a good candidate for my pattern, or to brainstorm a pattern pairing, I like to come up with lots of adjectives to describe it. Is it structured, delicate, or bouncy? Do I find it bold, cute, sophisticated, and so on? Then I ask, “Would I like my garment to share those same adjectives?”

Technical testing

Swatches allow you to get a feel for the fabric, and offer a sewing strategy preview, which can lead to fewer surprises. Run as many tests as you can and think are necessary.

Fiber content: If you don’t know what the fiber content is, sacrifice a snip to do a burn test.

Washability: Throw it in the wash. Trace around the shape (or cut a control half), place in a lingerie bag, and prewash the swatch however you plan to launder the garment. Did it shrink, fade, or change texture? Even textiles labeled as dry-clean only are worth testing in the machine. You may discover they wash just fine with your regular laundry. Wools and silks may not be off-limits.

Durability: Try to destroy the fabric in whatever way you anticipate the intended wearer might damage it.

Wrinkle resistance: Crush it. Smash it. How does it recover? Can you readily press out creases?

Pressing: Test how it behaves under your iron. What temperature is best? Do you need steam? How about a press cloth?

Dye fastness: Does the fabric develop water spots if dampened? Spritz it to find out. This is especially important with silks.

Buttonholes: Make a sample buttonhole—or several—testing thread, stitch density, and other variables.

 

Supporting materials: Test fusible interfacings and underlining options.

Comfort: Rub it on your skin. Does it feel good? Might it be irritating?

Optimal seams: Test needle sizes, stitch lengths, and thread colors. Also try ripping out some stitches. Does it leave permanent marks?

Sewing satisfaction: This is one of the most important aspects to assess. Does the fabric seem fun to work with? You often worry a lot less and can enjoy the steps of sewing when the fabric is suitable for the project.

Finishing requirements: If the swatch is big enough, sew and press a seam. Test some quick seam finishes and hem styles.

Response to gathering: Test some gathering stitches to see how the fabric behaves, and maybe even determine a preferred density for gathers.

Start a Swatch Library

You may wonder what to do with these little pieces afterward. Don’t throw them away. I learned to swatch fabrics when I first learned to sew garments, and it was purely as a reference. I started my swatch library in 1997, and I still find it helpful.

Create cards

You can start a library by swatching your own inventory. For each swatch you collect, create a swatch card that lists everything you might want to reference about it. Whenever possible, go beyond the basics. Include the adjectives you associate with the fabric, as well as results from any experiments. You can download and print out two swatch cards to get you started.

Collect Swatches

Make cards for swatches you’ve gathered in the past. Order new swatches simply for the education. Indulge your curiosity about fabric names, weights, price ranges. Add scraps from fellow sewists’ stashes. Have a swatch swap while getting your libraries started. Fill out a swatch card for each piece and attach the fabric to the card.

Catalog your library

Develop your own labeling and sorting system; this may be experimental and imperfect, as not all sources offer the same information. Keep the cards on rings, in a notebook, a file folder, or card catalog—whatever works for you. Choose a method that enables you to easily pull out swatch cards for reference so you can mix, match, and compare weaves, weights, fibers, and more.

This will not be a catalog you can shop, but over time, searching your personal swatch library can be a low-risk shortcut to favorable fabric decisions. The library is an always-growing reference tool, with each swatch an opportunity to further your fabric education.

Swatch what you wish for

Whatever your sewing style, fabric selection employs your senses. Swatching can kick off your making process, giving  you permission to slow down and enjoy yourself.

Figuring out what you really love to wear and what you really love to sew is an evolving pursuit. However it suits you, be scrappy. Sew happy.

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Brooks Ann Camper is a custom designer and sewing instructor based in Cedar Grove, North Carolina. Learn more at BrooksAnn.com.

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