Looking for help with fabrics!

[IfeelFloopy]

I recently got myself a little starter sewing machine. I would like to dip my toe with making something simple to start - such as a bandana.

The problem is I don't know what fabric to look/ask/search online for. I looked in the fabric section of hobbycraft and they were all quite stiff looking fabrics without any stretch or give. I am looking for something a bit softer and I have no idea where to start!

I have tried watching YouTube vids describing different fabrics but I'm none the wiser and I suppose it doesn't help that I cannot tell without touching it. I looked at a tshirt of mine that has a nice feel to see what it is made of and it said 62% cotton 37% viscose. Can you buy blends like that? What should I be looking for?!

You want a cotton jersey fabric I would think from what you've described. There's loads on ebay, though ideally, especially for someone who is learning, you don't want anything with a stretch as it is far more difficult to sew so I would go for a 100% cotton jersey.
I tend to, for practise pieces, use old sheets or clothes that would otherwise get binned (stains or holes)

More flexible fabrics are harder to sew. If you are completely new to sewing then cotton is easier and it gives you a chance to learn your machine. I started with cotton pj bottoms, which I thought was kind boring but I was glad of the knowledge is gained when I did move on. I think it's helpful to go into a fabrix shop and do some research online. I have a sewing book that describes various fabrics, how to sew them in terms of threads, needles and feet etc., as well as what the fabrics are used for. You could probably find a guide on line?

I'm very new to this also, but my tip would be to find a dedicated fabric/sewing shop. The staff are generally really knowledgable and happy to give you pointers. Some also do little workshops which you might find helpful..

I was reading through the Cotton and Steel blog the other day, and they have a couple of posts about different material types that may be useful to read if you don't have a local store.

www.cottonandsteelfabrics.com/blog/

There are loads of great online fabric shops, Village Haberdashery, Fabric HQ, M is for Make etc, that you can search for by material type.

Be warned though, fabric shopping is highly addictive

If you have not sewn much with a machine before, start with a cotton. Sew something simple. Pinterest is flooded with ideas, guides and videos.
Cotton jersey (t-shirt material) is very tricky to sew with, so not an ideal starter fabric.

Thank you everyone for your replies, lots of useful info there which has already helped my understanding