Buying fabric advice

[beforeafter]

Hi
I have started a dressmaking course and need to buy fabric for a dress I'm making. I've chosen a Tilly & The Buttons dress design and it calls for 150 width fabric. Is there a way of searching for that width of fabric? I keep seeing fabric I like online but the width is always wrong and I can't find any sites that filter by width. Am I missing something? I know I could look in a shop but I'm looking for a celestial type fabric (viscose or Tencell) - starsigns/stars/moon etc but I'm not having much luck.

Could anyone recommend any good online fabric stores please where I can buy 150 worth fabric?

Thank you and wish me luck for the first sewing project!

It doesn't need to be exactly 150 wide. That's just an approximately standard width and cutting layout suggestions will be based on that. Have a look at the instructions and it should show you this, based on various size ranges. If you're not at the top of the size. Range then you can get away with slightly narrower eg. 145.

If a fabric you like is 154 or 160 wide, it's not a problem.

I googled "150cm wide tencel fabric uk" and there seem to be a few retailers. Try also "lycocel" instead of tencel.
I find man made fabrics much harder to sew than cotton or wool, though, so I'd stick to that for a first attempt.
Good luck and enjoy!

Good point! (re the required width)

Most stretch fabrics are 150cm wide or thereabouts. As a new sewists please take care to buy the right type of fabric for the pattern requirements - it really does make a big difference.

And I agree that tencel, in particular, can be a bit of a wobbly git and not the easiest to handle. A viscose challis is a little easier. Also be wary of very dark colours because it can be harder to see what you're doing especially if you need o unpick.

Thanks all. This is what it has recommended for fabric

If you have the pattern, you can lay out the pattern pieces on a table 'marked' to the width of fabric you like. You can lay them out how you like, so long as you have them the right way round, grain wise. Then you can work out the length you need. You may need more if you have to shift pieces around to match patterns, so avoid fabrics that have obvious repeats.

If you like celestial patterns then you might like this fabric for a different project. Sadly it's only 132cm so would only work really for the smaller sizes of the knee length version but would be nice for another project! I've bought some to make a dress or top for myself.

https://guthrie-ghani.co.uk/shop/fabric/fabric-godmother-ziggy-ivory-viscose-crepe-fabric

This is a 150cm viscose challis:

https://www.minerva.com/mp/1273109/minerva-exclusive-celestial-motion-viscose-challis-fabric

But agree with other posters with laying out your pieces to see how much you actually do need! You can save quite a bit of money doing that rather than just going by the pattern especially if you buy from somewhere that cuts in 10cm increments.

Good luck :-)

As later posters have implied, note that if the OP is making one of the larger sizes the pattern specifically says that 56” and 58” wide fabric won’t work.

I agree that a (brushed) cotton would be easier to sew, as a first attempt. A stretch fabric would be more difficult.

That’s a lovely pattern OP - what’s the name of it if you don’t mind me asking? I’m toying with the idea of attempting to make a dress (I did a sewing course 10 years ago!) Might be a bit ambitious but I like a challenge 😊

It’s the Tilly and the Buttons Lotta dress. Her instructions are usually really clear and well illustrated so good if you’re new or getting back into it!

https://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/collections/pdf-sewing-patterns/products/lotta

Thanks! Hope yours turns out well with whatever fabric you end up choosing 😊

Thank you everyone! I went into my local
Fabric shop with the Tilly pattern (Lotta dress) and the lady in there helped me. I'm doing a sewing course at the moment so if I'm brave I'll show you the end result! It's my first attempt at an item of clothing!

Can I ask about viscose in general: is it cool or hot to wear, & is it difficult to look after? I googled it & there's conflicting advice.

There is a huge variation. Some of it crinkles alarmingly when washed and a lot of it shrinks, anyhow, so always pre-wash. I can't wear it in hot weather without getting prickly heat but it's nice for those just warm days when you want something a bit flowy.