Morris Sew-Along: Choosing Fabrics
Today we're going to talk a little bit about choosing fabrics for your Morris Blazer. The Morris is drafted for use with fabrics that have a bit of stretch so lets talk about what this means for both wovens and knits.
If you'd like to make your Morris in a woven you're going to want to look for a fabric with a bit of lycra or a similar elastic fiber in its content. I've linked to a few above that fit the bill just fine. My two favorite Morris Blazers have both been made out of stretch wool suiting. I love the drape and how polished it looks, but I'm still able to move around properly and don't feel restricted at all.
This is an example of the amount of stretch you're looking for in a woven. The above fabric is 96% wool, 4% lycra.
If you're more of a knit Morris girl, you're going to want to look for a stable knit with 2-way stretch that runs on the crossgrain (from selvage to selvage). You'll want to avoid 4-way stretch because it can cause your blazer to droop or sag causing it to stretch oddly against the facing. You'll also want the knit to have a bit of body, so think a bit thicker than something you would make a t-shirt out of. Most ponte, French terry, and some double knits would fit this bill well. If you do find yourself with a 4-way stretch you may want to cut a second set of front facing fusible pieces to fuse the front of your blazer, though we can talk more about this later.
This is an example of what you're looking for stretch wise in a knit fabric. The above fabric is what we used for the Morris sample - it's quite a bit over our usual poly limit but it's unfortunately the only ponte we could find with grey and black stripes. It's 88% Polyester 6% Rayon 6% Spandex.
When it comes to interfacing the Morris you're going to want to choose a tricot - or knit - fusible. Unlike other fusibles, tricot is knit which means it will move with your fabric maintaining the stretch of the garment.
The tricot fusible interfacing above is the same interfacing from our post My Favorite Fusibles a while back. If you have questions about selecting a fusible interfacing, that's a good place to start.
Alright, I hope you feel ready to select your fabric and interfacing. Up next we'll have a few adjustments you can do to your blazer fit wise. See you back here for that!
