Hello
I have been searching for a dress for my eldest daughter’s wedding in August. No idea what to where other than it should be blue so as not to clash with bridesmaids. While on vacation I tried on a beautifully made Micheal Kors very simple sheath dress with a princess seamline and an underbust seamline. The salesmen kept talking about how the dress was double faced, not having come across the term before can any help me out as I will probably try to recreate this dress. The dress was completely lined with lining sewn to hem so I couldn’t get a peek inside. Is double facing two layers of fashion fabric and a layer of lining? The dress was not heavy and the fabric was a lighter medium weight. Or maybe just means fully lined ? anyone with any experience with this of info that can help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Shine On
Replies
My take on double faced would be fabric that has two good sides, but if the dress you tried on was completely lined, maybe there is another description as well.Double faced fabric as I know it would be used where the wrong as well as the right side showed on the finished product.
Hi Shineon,
Double faced fabric is named appropriately. There are two layers of fabric "melded" together with numerous connecting threads holding the two layers together. Double faced fabric can look exactly alike on each side, or each side can be a different color. It is a fabric that is frequently favored by high end designers. It is usually wool.
Double faced fabric requires special construction techniques. Seams are sewn in the traditional way, and then one side of the seam allowance is trimmed very close to the stitching. The other seam allowance is pulled apart right up to the stitching, by cutting the little connecting threads holding the two layers together. Next, the layer closest to the stitching is also trimmed very close to the stitching, and the remaining seam allowance is folded over the raw edges, and then slip stitched by hand.
Garments made with double faced fabrics never have facings, as this would be too bulky. All of the seams, and hems are done in the method described above. It is time consuming to make a double faced fabric garment, but really satisfying if you like hand stitching!
Hope this helps. P.S. Double faced fabrics can be found at high end fabric stores, or I have seem them on the Emma One Sock web site.
Villagedressmaker has posted instructive insight to the subject. If anyone chooses, open the URL's on the following Google page.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=double+faced+fabrics&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
nepa
Hi
Thanks for all the wonderful info, I have read about that kind of double faced knit fabric in the past, but have never actually seen or used it. This particular dress was not that as the fabric was woven and fairly light in hand, the lining was a very lightweight woven-almost silk like and definitely seperate from the fashion fabric. I probably should have described it better in my original question. I found some beautiful indigo silk very light with a little slub in the material at a local fabric store and will just make something out of that. Still don't know what yet, but I am thinking and welcome any suggestions, keep in mind I am just barely 5 feet tall with a curvy but athletic figure.
Shine On, I wonder if the terminology the salesman was using was something totally different than what a sewer would use. I've seen articles about double faced fabric (never in real life) and it always looked a bit heavy weight and what you described sure didn't sound like it. My suspicion is he was meaning that the dress was completely lined like you described.
Did the dress look good on you that you tried on? Why not strive for that effect if it did. Sounds like you have picked up some pretty fabric. Princess seam dresses are supposed to look good on every shape. What fun to have a reason to make a pretty formal dress!
Gail
The only time I have heard of double faced was a dress that the lining was also dress fabric, that could be worn, lining side out as a different dress. The dress you describe does not sound like that. Perhaps he was trying to describe a fabric that had two sides that could be used, like a satin backed crepe. It is often used with either or both sides used in the design of a garment. Cathy
Villagedressmake has give an excellent detailed instruction of how to sew with double faced fabric. If you want photos to go along with her explanation, go to Threads index of topics, and you will find an article there that Threads had in one of their issues (I don't recall the exact one) from the past years publications. I remember the article well, but not enough to give you the issue number.
If you cannot find it there, look in Claire Shaeffer's "Fabric Sewing Guide" book. She details an entire chapter to this, and similar reversible fabrics; how to sew them, seams, finish techniques etc. For anyone who sews and does not have this book, I would highly recommend adding it to your library of reference books. It's terrific.
I made a coat from this fabric years ago, but the double faced fabric I used was a heavier wool fabric and not suitable for a dress, but I suspect the techniques used would be either the same or similar. Good luck with your project.
Edited 4/4/2009 1:13 pm by sewslow67
I was reading an article within the past week that mentioned the double faced fabric as opposed to double cloth fabric. Double cloth is the kind that you can split (like double cloth wool) and the double faced is fabric that either side can be the right side but it can't be split. I read this in either an old Threads magazine or a sewing book. But I remembered your post and thought I would chime in as they specifically mentioned the two fabrics as they get confused but are completely different.
Gail
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