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Home » Wotza Wednesday – Fabric Confusion

Wotza Wednesday – Fabric Confusion

October 2, 2013 by Nanny Leave a Comment

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I have had a number of questions about fabric terminology so today I am going to try to simplify some of the language of fabric for you.
 
FABRIC OR MATERIAL?
 
First off we sew with fabric – it was always called material by my grandmothers but today, anyway, we buy fabric to create an item.  Material refers to the raw material used to create the fabric and it varies to produce different fabrics. eg cotton, wool, man-made fibres.
 
What’s a BOLT?
 
We buy fabric from the bolt.  It is the rolls of fabric you see when you go to a shop.  The fabric is usually folded selvedge to selvedge and then rolled onto cardboard – this is the bolt.
What’s a SELVEDGE? 
 
The selvedge is the edge that doesn’t fray that runs right along the length of the fabric on both sides.  

 

If you look at a selvedge you will notice that it has information on it :  The name of the design, manufacturer and some coloured dots.  If you are trying to match another fabric, use the coloured dots as a guide – they are the colours that have been used in the design.

 

 
What’s a WOF?
 
WOF stands for Width Of  Fabric – the width from one selvedge to the other.  Quilting fabric is usually 42″ wide but if you buy upholstery fabric, for example, it may be much wider.
 
What’s a cut of FABRIC?
 
Fabric is sold by the metre or part there-of.  If you buy on-line you will notice that the fabric is sold in units and the size of that unit is outlined by the seller.  It is most often 0.25 of a metre and if you want to buy a metre you order 4 units. (Some sellers may sell per yard which is about 91.5 cm)
 
If you are purchasing in a shop, some will have minimum cuts – this simply means that you have to buy at least that amount. If I am shopping in a ‘new’ shop, I will always ask if they have a minimum cut.  If you only want 20 cm and the minimum cut is 1m you need to know!!
 
If you want 2 metres they will unroll the fabric from the bolt and measure 2m along the selvedge, and then cut across – this is a good time to watch carefully and don’t be afraid to say if you think they about to cut it short or crooked.  You can lose inches if it is not squared!! 

 

In the same way, if you only want 1/4 m or 25cm they will measure along the selvedge and cut.
 
What’s a FAT QUARTER?
 
A fat quarter is a quarter of a metre but it is not the usual 25cm. 
 
Remember if you want 25cm, they will cut that across the fabric from selvedge to selvedge.  You will have a strip, WOF, that is 25cms wide
 
A fat quarter however, is cut by firstly cutting a metre from the bolt and then and cutting it in half lengthways and crossways.  You end up with 4  ‘fat’ pieces approx 53cms x 50cms.
In the same way, you can see that by cutting 0.5m from the bolt and then cutting it in half, you will have 2 Fat quarters.

I hope this helps you to feel more confident when shopping for fabric!

Thank you to Sue at Splash into Craft for allowing me access to her shop for photos!  Why not drop by and tell her Nanny sent you!

Until next time
Nanny xx
 

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Filed Under: LET'S SEW, SEWING/QUILTING, TIPS/TOOLS, TUTORIALS, WOTZA

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