Wotza? Wednesday – What’s a Directional Fabric?

Today’s Wotza comes from Karlie who asks:

“Nanny, I am a newbie to sewing and was wondering if you could tell me:

Robert Kaufman: City Centre

Robert Kaufman: City Centre

In this one, the butterflies are flying in all directions and if you look carefully, you will see the same butterfly, flying in different directions .

Michael Miller: Beau Papillon

Michael Miller: Beau Papillon

Babushka

Babushka

Why is this important?

You need to consider the Direction when you are choosing your fabric for a project and placing your patterns.  For example, you need to cut all the pattern pieces with the trees standing upright and 
with the stripes going around a skirt, you want the stripes to match at the side seams.

Another place that you will meet this is when you are making a bag whether it be a simple library bag or a more detailed bag for yourself.  If the fabric is Directional, you will need to make a seam along the bottom so that you can have the fabric going up on both sides!  If, on the other hand, you choose a non- directional fabric for this you can use a long strip that goes down one side and up the other without looking “wrong”.

When you buy a pattern, you will usually find a mention in the  Fabric Requirements section that tells you that you may need extra fabric if it is Directional.

I hope that has answered your question Karlie, and that it helps you from making a very simple ‘mistake’ when you are using Directional prints.  Thanks for asking!

 

Until next time
Nanny xx