Fabrics for Costumes and Cosplay

The fabric that you use for your costume can make a huge difference in the look. And if you get the right fabric, it can make other details matter less sometimes choosing the fabric um that you need to use for your character is going to be easy. The knit fabrics, they have a lot more give to them. So it's easier to pull them on over base layers for trick or treating. It's easy for them to get on and off over their head rather than having to rely on a closure, the zipper or buttons or something, they have to fuss with, um and knit fabrics, obviously with the stretch of them, it allows a kid to wear a costume for longer because that knit had that stretch to it.

It had just more give and more forgiveness to it. Um If you've never worked with knits before, um it's, there are a couple of, of tricks to it, but once you get comfortable with it, it can make sewing your garment a lot easier because it does eliminate the need for a closure. A lot of times, not 100% of the time, but a lot of times, knit fabric, the, the stretch of it um allows it to kind of conform to the body rather than having to rely on shaping elements like um curved seams and darts and things like that, that you have to use with woven fabrics. So knit fabrics um are great in a lot of ways, there are some tricks to sewing with, with that type of fabric and we're going to touch on a couple of those here. But if you learn nothing else about sewing on a knit fabric, just know that when you are sewing on a knit and you're sewing a seam that goes around the circumference of the body that seam needs to have stretch built into it.

So that when the fabric stretches, as you're pulling it on or as you're wearing it, the seam needs to be able to stretch with it or it will break. So the, um, the stitch you use has to have stretch built into it as well. And those are called stretch stitches. Uh You can use a zig zag stitch like this one. The left and right motion of the needle builds more thread into a smaller distance so that when that fabric is stretched, that thread stretches out and it has room to do that.

So it won't break. This stitch is called a Z uh Lightning bolt stitch. It's kind of just like a narrow zigzag stitch. It does look very much like a straight stitch, which I like about it, but it does have a left and right motion and it has a lot of stretch built into it. This one is called the strip, the triple step straight stitch, which is two stitches forward and one stitch back.

So it builds an extra thread into that sea that way, it does kind of back stitch every stitch which makes it tough to unpick if you need to unpick. but it looks just like a straight line of stitches. It's a little bit bolder, kind of like a top stitching line, which looks really nice and it has a lot of stretch built into it. This line of stitching is just a straight stitch so that you can see how the fabric might stretch a little bit, but it only is gonna stretch to there. And I can feel that is the end of the give in that, um, in that seam and that seam then will break and you'll get, you know, your seams on your garment unraveling and that's no good.

So when you are sewing on a knit, you also, you wanna make sure that you don't stretch the fabric as it is going under the foot and as that seam is sewing because that's going to result in wavy seams and that doesn't look good. So sometimes you'll be able to press that out, press the Wyss out with an iron afterward or, um, you just don't stretch the fabric to begin with and don't get those wavy seams. So make sure you're just, you're letting the fabric, letting the feed dogs pull the fabric. Now, sometimes if you are using a really slinky knit, something really fine, it will end up getting stretched under the foot through, no fault of your own. Um Sometimes if the presser foot is pushing down particularly hard on the fabric, it can make it hard for that fabric to slide through and it stretches.

So something you can do is you can decrease the pressure or foot, pressure check your machine manual uh for ways to do that if possible. If not, you can use tissue paper. This is just tissue paper that comes in your gift bags, you can use a layer of tissue paper under your fabric to stabilize it. So put it under your fabric as you're sewing and that can help the fabric um sta stabilize, give the needle something more to grab on to if you're using a really fine fabric. And I'll use this trick.

Even when I'm sewing really fine woven fabrics, sometimes I'll get skip stitches and tension issues. If it's really fine and this layer of tissue paper underneath just stabilizes it enough to help ease those issues. So stitch, whatever stitch you're using with this layer underneath, you can also use a layer on top as well. And then when you're done sewing, it will have perforated the tissue paper and you can just tear it away. So that is a really good tool to have in your sewing room for knits and for other fabrics as well.

Going off of the the type of costume that you're going for, there are certain fabrics that evoke certain feelings. So again, our royalty, Prince, princess type costumes, you're going to want those sort of luxurious fabric. So something that is shiny doesn't necessarily have to be a satin. A lot of Rayon's uh acetates are shiny and you can use that as well. Um velveteen with a nap that has that luxurious feel to it.

Um There are fabrics that have details already uh put on it. So we have like little jewels and crystals already kind of bedazzling this fabric which already is adding those elements and those details and you can find fabrics like this in many times. They might be in like a bridal section of a fabric store if you're going for something super fancy like that or something that has a nice drape like Rayon has a nice drape, um certain chiffons, um something that's sort of transparent or lace and these kind of say to me like a fairy costume or some kinds of elves, you can already start to evoke that feeling of that genre of character with the fabrics you choose. And again, it can make the really tiny details matter a lot less on the other end of the spectrum. If you are going for a character that's more rough and hard worn, like a warrior type character.

You're going to want these more rough fabric, so canvas, um denim and even full leather, not the shiny type of leather, full leather, but a nice more matte looking faux leather. Adding some little details of this in can really add to the vibe of that costume and you can actually kind of emboss or, or texturize your leather um by using something that's gritty like sandpaper and kind of scrape it against the leather in various places so that it doesn't look like your warrior has never seen battle. So you can add details directly onto the fabric in that way. Another fabric that lends really well to some types of costumes is faux fur. So faux fur can come in a lot of different varieties.

So you can get faux fur in yardage, you can get faux fur in like a precut trim. So check the trims section if you just need it for, you know, around a hood or some sort of trim. Um This came in just sort of a swatch and it'll come in different lengths of fur. So you can get a short pile fur. This is long pile fur and this is cool because it has sort of a different color at the base.

So it looks a little bit more realistic and faux fur will most of the time be a knit construction. So you can see the knit ribs on the back of this. But that does not necessarily mean it is stretchy like a knit. So this is really, it does not have much stretch at all. So if you need uh your fabric to be stretchy and also evoke the feel and the look of fur, there are other fabrics that you can go to.

So this fabric is a sweatshirt minky and it has this nap to it that does kind of look like a short pile of fur and it has stretch in both directions. It has more stretch in one direction than the other. And that's another thing about knits. You can have knit fabric that stretches in both directions and that's called a four way stretch or a knit that only stretches in one direction, side to side. And that's a two way stretch.

And when you're cutting out your pieces, you want to make sure the direction of stretch or the direction of most stretch is going around the circumference of the body in those pattern pieces because that's where you need it to stretch the most is going around the circumference. So this has a lot more stretch than just a regular faux fur. So if you're looking for um, a fur type fabric, but it needs to stretch, you can try that search term minky or even fleece. So this fleece has uh an even shorter nap than the minky, but it still, it has a nap and it looks a little bit furry. So you can use that for your fur details or for your, your fur um, elements of your costume, your garments if you need to.

And I will note a couple of things about sewing with faux fur and fabrics that have a nap when you're sewing these pieces together that have a nap. You want that nap to be going in the same direction on the pieces that are getting joined together. If, uh, the nap in one piece is going down and the nap in the other piece is going up when they get sewn together, the light is going to catch it differently and it's going to look weird. So you can tell the direction of the nap. It's really easy with a long pile fur, you can tell the fur just wants to lay this way.

And if you try to brush your hand on it going the other way, it feels wrong. It's like petting a cat backward. And on this Minky, you can tell the, the, the nap lays really nicely when I brush my hand down it this way. And if I try brushing it up this way, it's sort of pulling it weird and it makes it look kind of matted. So make sure that your, uh, your nap is going in the same direction on all of your pieces before you sew them together.

Now, the color of your fabric can be, uh, can make a huge difference as well in your costume. Like we've been talking about, uh, if you can't find the exact color you're looking for, just get as close as you can dying. Your fabric is also an option. You can see, um, you know, those writ dyes in the store. Um, and you can try that on your fabric if it's applicable.

Um, painting your fabric. I've also dyed fabric with tea before I had some white lace and I wanted it to be more of an off white, like a parchment ivory color. So I brewed a pot of black tea and I steeped my lace in it for a few minutes and then rinsed it and it gave it that sort of um off white look that I was going for after it has been rinsed out. So that is also an option.