Fabric Suggestions For The Tamarack Jacket
We hope you are as excited as we are about the re-release of the Tamarack Jacket and the Hood and Collar variation pack! Because the Tamarack is such a blank canvas for unlimited creative potential we know it can be hard to choose what fabrics to use! Though we have shared many Tamarack posts over the years including style inspiration, fabric swatches, and quilting ideas, we wanted to revisit all the fabrics that go into a Tamarack Jacket and share some new fabric suggestions, including the fabrics we used for our most recent samples.
There are a few different fabric components that make up the Tamarack Jacket:
- Main Fabric for the Shell
- Lining Fabric for the inside
- Batting for between the layers
- Pre-made or self made bias binding
Main and lining fabrics
Light to mid-weight cottons, linens, chambrays, and blends work well for this jacket. Since the fabric will be doubled and quilted to a batting avoid anything too heavy as the jacket may become excessively stiff.
The possibilities of combinations are virtually endless between the main and lining fabrics. In our samples we tried to show a variety of potential combos by mixing neutrals, prints, pops of color, etc.
Main Fabric:
1. Essex Yarn Dyed Linen Cotton Blend in Black
Lining Fabric:
2. Alexia Abegg 100% Cotton Golden Hour Daisy in Lilac
Main Fabric:
1. Essex Yarn Dyed Linen Cotton Blend in Pickle
Lining Fabric:
2. Carolyn Friedlander 100% Cotton Angled in Zinc
Main and Lining Fabric:
1. & 2. Manchester Yarn Dyed Cotton in Denim
Main Fabric:
1. Alexia Abegg 100% Cotton Linework Heavyweight in Saddle
Lining Fabric:
2. Elizabeth Hartman 100% Cotton Kitchen Window Woven in Pickle
Batting
Between the layers of the main and lining fabric is the batting layer. Batting is the material used to create the 'quilt' by adding thickness and providing warmth to your jacket. We recommend using a high quality batting in cotton, wool, bamboo, or a blend. Choose the thickness based on the warmth you want your coat to be. The weight and thickness is measured by loft- thinner batting has a lower loft and thicker batting has a higher loft.
You want to make sure the batting is high quality so that it doesn't shrink in the wash and the fibers stay together and don't clump into a lumpy mess over the life of your coat. High quality battings allow you to quilt further apart and get more creative than the lower quality alternatives. You'll need a twin size if you're buying by the package, or if your local shop has it by the yard, you can use the pre-quilted yardage quantity for your size.
Our favorite battings are made by Quilter's Dream. We used the Quilter's Dream Cotton Select for our samples. If you're into the idea of wool, Jen has used this one for a wool version.
Bias Binding
All the edges of the Tamarack Jacket are finished by binding them so it requires quite a bit of bias binding. Bias binding is created from strips of fabric that are cut on the bias and pieced together in one long strip. The bias strip can be left flat or pressed to be pre-folded before applying to the garment. Bias binding can be self made or store bought, it comes in many different widths and folds. We have a post about making your own here. This pattern calls for 1/2" double fold bias binding which is a 2" wide bias strip that has been folded in 1/2" increments 4 times. For our samples we just used the same fabric as our main layer but you can get creative and use it as an opportunity for a fun design detail with contrasting colors or prints.
For more information, tutorials, and inspiration on the Tamarack Jacket we highly recommend exploring our bounty of Tamarack blog content by simply typing "Tamarack Jacket" in the search bar.
We love seeing what creative ideas you come up with! So be sure to tag us at #GrainlineStudio and #TamarackJacket
