Hi, I am Sonia, otherwise known as S by S - a 26-year old, pink-obsessed sewist, whose ambition since the UK-wide lockdown has been to design and create her own wardrobe.
This is a review of Fabriques’ dusty pink scuba crepe. I am writing this blog to provide you some tried-and-tested real-life information on this fabric, so you can make an informed choice when purchasing.
The fabric itself can be found here: https://fabriques.co.uk/collections/scuba-crepe-4-way-stretch-lycra/products/dusty-pink-scuba-crepe-4-way-stretch-lycra-fabric-lf07du
For more ideas on how to use this and other fabrics sold by Fabriques, visit: https://www.instagram.com/s_by_s_x/
Colour
The best way to describe the colour of this fabric is that it is a dusky pink. It is what I would call an ‘adult shade of pink’ – that trendy colour which seems to be everywhere at the moment. It is a fairly muted shade - the kind you would happily wear around the office (to be fair, I have gone to work looking like a flamingo multiple times…). As with all scuba crepes, it has 2 sides: a textured side and a slightly glossy side (I must emphasise the slightly here). The textured side is a bit darker than the slightly glossy side, which can be seen from the image below. Note that all other views of the fabric in this blog are of the textured side.
If you were to pair this fabric with other colours, I would say neutral colours would work best: browns and nudes, although I would happily wear this with navy or rose gold.
If you needed to match this with a thread, I would recommend Gutermann’s shade 473. This thread blends with the fabric very well; below is a picture.
Quality
This fabric is a scuba crepe, so its thinner than an ordinary scuba. For those who are new to sewing, it has the same weight as a good quality t-shirt. As mentioned above, it is textured on one side and slightly glossy on the other, and it is fairly light to wear. It is the kind of fabric I would happily wear in the summer, but could easily layer during colder months. Given how light it is, I wouldn't use this fabric for any garments you would expect to 'support' you - such as a figure-hugging dress aimed at smoothing your silhouette.
Scuba crepes have great stretch, and this fabric doesn’t disappoint. This fabric has a 4-way stretch but holds its shape reasonably well. When it stretches, it doesn’t become translucent nor do you see any fibres popping through.
My favourite part about this fabric is the drape. It drapes incredibly well for a fabric of this thickness, and can easily form really nice ripples in skirts or dresses.
Lining
This fabric is very opaque, and doesn’t lose this when stretching. Another amazing quality of this fabric is that it is a very similar colour on both sides. Therefore, for most projects, you wouldn’t need a lining. It is very comfortable to wear without a lining too, if it is sewn with the glossy side on the inside.
It should be noted that this fabric is fairly thin, so while undergarments can’t physically be seen, their outline does poke through. For loose-fitting items, this isn’t an issue, but I recommend that for tighter fitting items you double up the fabric. I have doubled up the fabric in the bodycon dress shown below, and the outline of my bra can’t be seen at all.
Ease of Sewing
I am by no means an expert sewist, so how easy a fabric is to sew is really important to me.
On a scale of chiffon (0) to cotton (10), I would give this fabric a score of 7 out of 10 for the ease of sewing. It is a stretchy fabric, which always requires some care when sewing in a machine. However, this was fairly easy to sew, given it is thicker than a lot of stretch fabrics. The textured side stops the fabric from slipping under the machine foot, but it still feeds through without the need for human help. I set my stitch length setting to 4 while sewing this fabric.
This fabric is great for people who aren’t so confident with sewing. The textured surface hides stitches reasonably well – so any wobbles in your straight line of stitches aren’t as glaringly obvious as other fabrics. It also bounces back really well when you rip stitches out, so you aren’t left with holes in the fabric. The slightly glossy side is less forgiving, but nowhere near as bad as other fabrics I have used.
Inspiration
The best part of this fabric is its drape, so its perfect for angel sleeves and skirts where you want ripples to naturally form. I have used this fabric a few times now, and found it was perfect for creating a smart pair of loose-fitting shorts.
This fabric was perfect for my shorts because of the stretch and flexibility, I would definitely recommend.
I have also used this fabric to create a bodycon dress:
What was really nice about using this fabric for this was that the top had less form, making it much more comfortable and “breathable”.
Note, I also used Fabriques' brown scuba to make the above dress. This fabric can be found here: https://fabriques.co.uk/collections/scuba-jersey-stretch-lycra/products/mocca-scuba-4-way-stretch-lycra-fabric-lf06mo
For more inspiration on using this and other fabrics by Fabriques, head to https://www.instagram.com/s_by_s_x/.
