Shoulda Known Better

 I’ve been sewing some things for my ‘at home’ autumn/winter wardrobe and checking out a few fabric options at various sites — as you do.

This led me to a vendor I had previously ordered from and was on the fence about the quality of their fabrics. BUT, they had a buffalo check cotton/Lycra knit! Just the thing for an autumn cowl neck top! I wanted it! It was on sale — under $7 US — what a steal!  That should have stopped my fabric lust immediately. There may have been a time that $7 could get you a nice cotton knit, but that time isn’t now.

The fabric was listed as ‘medium weight - 10 ounce’. It may be 10 oz (per yard, I’m guessing?) but medium weight it is not. It’s thin, and about the weight of cheap multi-pack underwear t-shirts sold in discount stores. The only real heft to it is the solid black squares which have been heavily inked (printed) and have a stiffness to them. After washing it was very skewed. Sigh. My own fault for being blinded by a print I wanted. I didn’t want it to be a total loss, so I did the best I could with it, but it really is no better than a RTW fast fashion item and will be worn as an under layer for as long as it holds up.

I’m not mentioning the original retailer, as I accept full responsibility for choosing a fabric I really should have known would not be up to (my) standard. However, I see it is also carried by fabric.com for $13.37 and $14.04 ( different colors — why do they do that?). Still labeled as ‘10 oz. ‘— but now also called “heavyweight “! Uh no. I see not much is left, so this may be a useless buyer beware, but nonetheless…

Next up I’m trying a new (to me) pattern line using the French terry I got from Stylemaker Fabrics. More later.