Choosing fabric
with JULIUS ARTHUR
Lesson 4 of 27
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Julius shares his favourite fabrics for quilting and the best places for sourcing sustainable fabrics. Explore what wadding types to choose and where to get secondhand fabrics.
From the Lesson Workbook
Choosing Fabrics
Fabric and Textiles
Personally, I prefer natural textiles and enjoy using linen and cotton fabrics. You want to look for woven textiles. You also want to look for fabrics of a shirting weight. You can use shirts and second-hand textiles in your quilting projects, but avoid anything too thick, such as upholstery-weight fabrics.
Wadding or Batting
Wadding (or batting) adds texture, warmth and softness to your project. I tend to use cotton batting, but there are loads of different types – battings made from wool, polyester, bamboo and mixes of all of those. Remember that battings come in different lofts. The thicker the loft, the cosier your quilt is going to be. The lower the loft, the thinner it is going to be. You can find wadding online; however, it's great to visit haberdasheries or fabric shops to see it, have a feel and decide if it's going to work for your project.
Sourcing Fabrics
Go into your wardrobe and select clothes that you aren't wearing to repurpose in your quilt projects. You can ask friends and family if they have anything available.
Buy if you need to, but if you are buying new fabric, think about its composition and where it is from. A lot of organic fabrics are available now. Try to use sustainable yarns and fibres. Think about the impact your materials have on the planet.
Car boot sales and local markets are great places for sourcing fabrics. There are also a lot of online retailers.
White Linen
White linen is quite hard to find, so snap it up when you see it. You can buy end-of-roll fabrics online. The end-of-roll and deadstock fabrics I buy are often faulty, which is perfect for me.
Fabric Sources
Suppliers of sustainable fabrics are listed below.
- Ada & Ina
- Merchant & Mills
- Mono Antiques
- Offset Warehouse
- Organic Textile Company
- Ray Stitch
- The New Craft House
- The Sewing Retreat
- Truro Fabrics
All About Wadding
Cotton Wadding
Cotton is ideal for machine quilting. As a natural fibre, it is also more fire-resistant than synthetic materials.
Polyester Wadding
Polyester wadding does not shrink, requires no pre-washing, and can be machine washed after use. This hypoallergenic material is ideal for bedding and soft furnishings.
Heat-Resistant Wadding
Thermal fleece is an obvious choice for accessories and clothing intended to withstand cold temperatures.
Blended Wadding
This wadding combines 80% cotton and 20% polyester to produce the best of both worlds. It drapes well, and is easy to work with and care for.
Bamboo Wadding
This eco-friendly wadding is a 50/50 blend of bamboo and cotton. Naturally anti-bacterial, it makes excellent bedcovers for children. It also works well with pure cotton fabrics. Low-loft wadding is available here. You can also purchase high-loft wadding here.
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Your Instructor
Julius Arthur
British textile artist specialising in handmade quilts and unique textile objects for the home.
Julius Arthur is a textiles designer specialising in quilts and unique objects for the home. His design practice, House of Quinn, creates small-batch homeware using traditional and age-old craft techniques and practices to cultivate contemporary design narratives onto familiar objects. His work is grounded in uncomplicated - often repurposed - materials and inspired by an abstract view of the places and things around us. Growing up in Cornwall, memories of childhood and a sense of home and belonging intersect in Julius' work. Quilts have become a staple motif in Julius' work - a way of combining materials, connecting through stitch and exploring shape, form and line - and the subject of his book Modern Quilting.
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