Thayer Sew-Along: Fabric Selection & Inspiration
Today we're going to talk about fabric selection for the Thayer Jacket. The Thayer calls for three fabrics plus interfacing, I'll walk you through each type below along with some swatch suggestions for each fabric.
Main Fabric
For the shell of the Thayer we recommend medium – heavy weight woven fabrics such as denim, twill, corduroy, or canvas. You'll want to look for a fabric with a bit of structure, but make sure whatever you buy isn't too thick to go through your sewing machine successfully. Below are a few fabric ideas along with the Thayer made up in a similar fabric.
Corduroy
- 14-wale Corduroy from Fancy Tiger Crafts
- 8-wale Corduroy from Stonemountain & Daughter
- 21-wale Corduroy from Fancy Tiger Crafts
Corduroy is a great option for the Thayer, and it's very in fashion right now which means there are so many great colors available in different wales! If you're not familiar, the wales refer to the fuzzy ridges on the fabric. So 8-wale corduroy means there are 8 ridges per inch, while 21-wale means there are 21 wales per inch. I personally have some brick red 8-wale corduroy set aside for another version as soon as I get some free time!
Denim
- Cone Mills Denim in Salmon Red from Threadbare Fabric
- Cone Mills White Oak Denim in Indigo from Threadbare Fabric
- Cone Mills Denim in Olive Green from Threadbare Fabric
Denim is always a solid option for the Thayer Jacket and was actually the fabric the original pattern was designed for when I made the first one for myself! For that one and the sample shown above we used a non-stretch Cone Mills denim, which sewed up beautifully and wears like a dream. Just because you're using denim doesn't mean you're limited to blue or black! Threadbare Fabrics has a great selection of beautiful colored denims. I'd love to make one from that green!
Canvas & Twill
- Japanese Printed Canvas from Stonemountain & Daughter
- Ventana Twill from Fancy Tiger Crafts
- Brushed Bull Denim from Blackbird Fabrics
Canvas and twill are a great option for the Thayer Jacket. It gives a more workwear vibe than the other two fabrics above, subtly referencing Carhartt jackets and the like. I'd look for a fabric between 7-10 oz in weight. Any lighter might not have enough substance, and heavier will be likely be difficult to feed through some home machines.
Body Lining
- Michael Miller Organic Sherpa from Purl Soho
- Birch Fabrics Organic Cotton Sherpa from Stonemountain & Daughter
- Wooly Sherpa in Navy from Oak Fabrics
The Thayer was designed with a fuzzy body lining in mind, and for each of our versions we used one of the fabrics above. Alternately you can use another fabric for lining such as flannel, or even a quilt as evidenced in Monday's post!
Sleeve Lining
A lot of you have wondered why we specified a different lining for the sleeves than the body, and we do have a reason for this. Using a slippery lining for the sleeves makes certain that you can easily slip your arms in and out, especially if you're wearing a sweater or something with a lot of texture. We used this quilted jacket lining from fabric.com and it only comes in black. Unfortunately we've had a hard time finding many colors for this but luckily nobody really sees the insides of your sleeves!
Interfacing
In addition to the three fabrics mentioned above, you'll also need fusible interfacing. Look for a woven or tricot fusible in a similar weight to the fabric you're using. We used a mid-weight woven fusible for our jackets. Whatever you do, try to stay away from bonded inferfacing. It doesn't have the drape (or any drape for that matter) needed to play nicely with garment fabrics.
So that's it for fabrics! If you have any questions let us know in the comments below!
