Where to find canary yellow wool fabric?

[gypsymare]

I’m an odd size which is darn impossible to make do in fitted clothing. Women’s cuts are far too constricting in the bust and shoulders and terribly short, and mens’ are too tight in the hips. So I’ve decided to try to make my own vest. Then I tried to find the fabric…

After an hour of searching the internet I have yet to find a suitable yellow wool fabric for the making of a hunt vest. Any ideas on where to look? Is there a brick and mortar store in the NoVA/MD area to buy such things?

And while we’re at it, how about a tattersall fabric for a cubbing vest?

[lily04]

http://ukfabricsonline.com/wool-mix-check

[merrygoround]

Try G-Street Fabrics.

If all else fail, PM your yardage

[gypsymare]

Thanks! I found some there.

[lily04]

I found some Tattersall! They have many shades of yellow as well.
https://dorrmillstore.com/index.php/site/products/category/the_dorr_collection/137/more_designs_from_dorr

[gypsymare]

oooh, lovely! I made a yellow vest out of the stuff I found at G street… It was difficult to work with, very thin and stretchy. I’d like to find some thicker stuff and make a reversible one with this tattersall.

[lily04]

You can’t beat the price either. Any that I have found in the past was $40 + per yard.

[BeastieSlave]

Wow, thanks for bumping this up!

[gypsymare]

I just bought two yards! They have solid yellow in two weights also

[gypsymare]

I got a walking foot for my sewing machine… looking forward to seeing if it makes the rayon easier to sew

[BeastieSlave]

If you don’t mind my asking, what pattern are you using?

[MaybeMorgan]

[QUOTE=gypsymare;7939654]
I just bought two yards! They have solid yellow in two weights also[/QUOTE]

Where are you seeing solid yellow? Would you mind adding a link? I used to sew and I imagine I still could, and would really like to know what pattern is appropriate also.

[gypsymare]

[QUOTE=BeastieSlave;7939896]
If you don’t mind my asking, what pattern are you using?[/QUOTE]

Butterick B5359 but I made some modifications. Don’t be afraid to play around… this is the first article of clothing I’ve ever sewn and there was definitely a learning curve but I had fun and made something useful.

First I made a muslin to test for fit. Even though I added 2 inches to the pattern as shown on the pattern itself, it was still too short. So I added some more length and cut the points of the vest into deeper V’s. I also needed to angle the shoulder seams more. They were gapping a bit on me. I didn’t bother adjusting the pattern for my waist. I decided to adjust the sides after the final fitting.

Muslin:

Final product (needs a good dry cleaning!)
RJ Classics vest on the left, my creation on the right

At the suggestion of a seamstress friend, I used rayon for the lining since it’s breathable. The canary yellow is a lightweight gabardine, so overall it’s a lightweight vest, but it’s not what I would have chosen for starters. Both materials were ravelly and difficult to work with. The wool had a significant stretch to it. I ended up using flat fell seam finishes almost everywhere to add some durability and keep the seam allowances from unravelling. This made it take about 4 times longer to sew since every seam had to be sewn twice with lots of ironing and trimming in between. If I had to do it again I’d find a different fabric… or buy a serger so I could just overlock the edges.

Dorr also has yellow coating (heavier):
https://dorrmillstore.com/index.php/site/products/category/coating/142
And a lighter weight:
https://dorrmillstore.com/index.php/site/products/category/dorr_wools/86/P20
I’d order a sample first to see what it feels like.

[MaybeMorgan]

Excellent, thanks so much! I want a project and need to save money!

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=gypsymare;7939658]
I got a walking foot for my sewing machine… looking forward to seeing if it makes the rayon easier to sew[/QUOTE]

If it’s washable(-ish), I’ve found that starching the h*ll out lightweight &/ slippery fabric makes it much easier to work with. Soak it with a can of spray starch, dry, iron, then cut. Wash it when you’re done.

An overlock foot is ~$5 and will let you finish hems almost as good as a serger.

[gypsymare]

[QUOTE=red mares;7942279]
If it’s washable(-ish), I’ve found that starching the h*ll out lightweight &/ slippery fabric makes it much easier to work with. Soak it with a can of spray starch, dry, iron, then cut. Wash it when you’re done.

An overlock foot is ~$5 and will let you finish hems almost as good as a serger.[/QUOTE]

Oooh, good tip! I can do an overlock type stitch on my machine but the rayon was so thin and it was so close to the edge that it was turning out really ugly and jamming a lot. Which makes me think… maybe using a soluble interfacing on the rayon would help?

[red_mares]

The presser foot keeps the fabric flat when you sew it & keeps it from jamming up. It still takes some extra time. I tend to just do a zigzag/overcast type stitch around the pieces I cut before I sew stuff together.

The soluble stabilizers can help too. Cut a piece with the same contour as your seem.

Essentially, heavy start works similar to some of the soluble stabilizers (once dissolved). I’m just cheap & too lazy to fight with stabilizer strips.

[gypsymare]

I think I have one of those. I didn’t know it functioned any differently from the standard foot other than providing a guide to line up the edge. I’ll give it a try!

[gypsymare]

I got the fabric from Dorr, it is very pretty but a loose and coarse weave. It will do for a vest but isn’t the kind of durable and tightly woven stuff you would really want.

[lily04]

I’m using it to make a reversible vest so it should work. I found some decent yellow wool on ebay.