Poppy Dress Fabric Inspiration

One of my favorite parts of starting a brand new sewing project is picking out the perfect fabric, but at the same time that process can also feel a bit overwhelming. If you’re lucky enough to have a fabric store that stocks a variety of garment fabric near you the process is much easier, you get to feel the fabric and have the assistance of the experts working in the shop. For those of us who have to shop online for our garment fabric it can be a bit more trying, especially as more and more online stores stop offering swatching services. Add to that the ability to order almost any type of fabric and your head might start spinning!

With that in mind, today's post is all about the fabric I chose to create our sample Poppy Dresses, as well as a selection of fabrics I’d love to use for future dresses. My hope is that by walking you through the fiber contents, weights, and drapes we chose it will help you make a more informed and confident decision when choosing a fabric for your own Poppy Dress!

For View A of the Poppy Dress samples I chose two plain woven cotton fabrics from Fableism Supply Co. The first one is a bright and cheery plaid and the second is sort of a hybrid plaid stripe. At 3.98 oz it gives the dress a great amount of body and you can really see the shape of the pattern pieces. At the same time, it's not too heavy or stiff that it stands out from the body awkwardly. This is a really solid choice for a beginner sewist as well because the fabric is super stable and easy to work with.

For our View B samples I wanted something with a softer drape so I chose this 2.6 oz Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton from Free Spirit Fabrics. I personally love this fabric, it's extremely easy to work with, versatile, and feels great to wear. At 2.6 oz it's lighter weight than the plain woven cotton. Its looser weave and fine threads give it the softer drape I was looking for.

We used another Fableism fabric, Daisies, for our View C samples. This fabric has a plain woven background with the cutest little daisies woven into the fabric in vertical stripes. Because of the woven pattern, the floats on the background add additional body to the drape of this fabric, which is why I chose it for the shorter version of the Poppy. At 4.47 oz it would absolutely work for the longer version of the dress, but I wanted to showcase the longer version with softer and more fluid drape fabrics.

Our final sample fabric is simultaneously our heaviest and has the most fluid drape, proving that it’s not just fabric weight that contributes to how a garment hangs. View D is sewn up in a lyocell / linen blend from Yardblox Fabrics. While this fabric is 4.72 oz, the lyocell drapes beautifully and, as you can see in these images, has gorgeous movement. The fluid drape of the dress in this fabric gives a totally different silhouette from the plain woven cottons, and I love how it looks!

In addition to the sample fabrics, I’ve pulled six fabrics that I’d personally like to sew up into a Poppy Dress. Here’s what I chose and why!

1. Posy Dots 100% Rayon Challis from Workroom Social: I’ve sewn with Jennifer’s rayon before and I love working with it! I think the color and print on this one would be so cute with the gathered tiers of the Poppy and I’m excited to see how the Poppy would look sewn up in a lighter weight fabric with fluid drape.
2. Silk Georgette with Woven Stripe from The Fabric Store: This fabric is a sheer, 100% silk with a thickly woven stripe running throughout the georgette background. I would love to see a Poppy sewn up in a sheer fabric with a slip underneath. Georgette has quite a bit of drape normally but the woven stripe gives this particular fabric more body which I think could be very cute with the silhouette of the dress.
3. Floating Blossoms Metallic Brocade from Mood Fabrics: I have a dream of a party Poppy in a lamé brocade and I think this cheery yellow would be perfection! The silhouette would really stand out, though I do think the shorter version of the dress would work best in a fabric like this. The longer skirt might be a little overwhelming, not to mention a lot more expensive!
4. Soft Washed Gingham Linen from Blackbird Fabrics: I actually have a Poppy dress sewn up in a different colorway of this same fabric and I love it so much! It’s easy to wear and can be dressed up or down without much trouble. I think adding a classic black and white check to my wardrobe would be even more versatile!
5. Mind the Maker Viscose Twill & Crepe: I absolutely love this line of fabrics, we used one of their viscose twills for the spotted version of the Austin Dress, and I personally have a Poppy made from their viscose crepe. It feels luxurious and swishes around so wonderfully, I love wearing it! The only thing to note about the crepe is it doesn’t love being topstitched, so I did sew everything down by hand on that dress.
6. Amour Vert Sandwashed Silk Crepe de Chine from Stonemountain Fabrics: This fabric is unfortunately no longer available (designer deadstock doesn’t last long) but I do have a few yards in my stash! Silk crepe de chine is one of my all time favorite fabrics but I feel like it doesn’t get as much love as it used to now that rayon blends are so readily available. Silk is just next level though, and personally I don’t find it any harder to work with than rayon, and in a lot of cases I think it’s easier. Any silk crepe de chine would be gorgeous but I love this particular print. I have plans to sew it up this winter and we can all see how that looks!

I hope you find this information helpful in choosing the perfect fabric for your own Poppy Dress. If you have any questions let us know in the comments below!