Some more upholstery blends.

While it can seem a little bit random, fabrics in the store are mostly laid out according to dominant fiber type; upholstery fabrics are towards the front, garment fabrics further back.

The only slightly annoying thing is that not all of the rolls had labels, so I couldn't always see what they were or get a price. Still, better than trying to look through rolls stacked up on a rack.

Part 1 of apron-dress fabric options.

The poly/wool blends feel alright, if a little thin. They're affordable though, which helps.

I couldn't see any obvious problem with the fabric labelled as faulty, but hey, I'll take it if it's cheap. Or the marked-down 100% wool.

Part 2 of the options.

The first one is an upholstery wool; I'd really rather use it for the coat than the dress, but I can deal. It's *very* scratchy, but since I'm wearing the serk underneath that shouldn't matter too much.

The next one is a denim; this is the only light-coloured denim they have, and it's quite heavy.

I don't object to the grey wools; apparently Rit powder dyes will work fine on them, but I might look at some actual wool dyes anyway.

Here are the linens I looked at for my serk.

The first one is actually an upholstery fabric, and I think it might be cotton or a blend. No tag, but it was in the $8/m rack.

These next three are all linens, but the darker ones look like chambrays, which might not be period.

The one labelled 'oatmeal' is also heavier and rougher (SCAdian last night told me it'll soften up with washing, as will the undyed linens) while the cream-colour linen may be too lightweight to be warm enough.

These are the Chinese brocades; they're all $14/m, but I'm not sure what fabric they actually are.

Interestingly, the two blues in the dragon brocade are actually very close - I like the darker one better.

These are three other brocades I'm interested in, though I have to check if any of these motifs and colours are period.

The white peacock brocade isn't as large or intrusive as it looked on their website, and the other two just caught my eye.

I'd really like the dragon motif on some off-white or even pale gold fabric though. Just...not so much blue.

Yes, I'm saving the best until last; shush.

I've been looking for cotton cheesecloths and muslins for summerwear, and expecting I'd always have to dye them myself. Not so - DK has a few nice pre-dyed options.

The last fabric seems to be their quilter's muslin, which is slightly thicker than the regular stuff.

Ok, ok, here's the good stuff. The silks.

These ones are on the raised wooden area in the center of the shop, under the 'Silks' sign. The raw silk looked amazing, but it is *so* scratchy; I think the other one is a noil.

They didn't have any taffetas in stock, but they did have Duchesse satin, which is very stiff and crinkly. And incredibly expensive. Satin is too soft and flow-y for my garb, but I have other applications...

It gets better though.

While the first two are suspiciously cheap, they look *amazing*. The camera does not do them justice.

I really want to know what this crinkly silk is as well.

Shot silks - chiffons, I think, because the staffer I asked said that they don't currently have any taffetas in stock (and these weren't stiff like taffetas).

The colours are amazing and really hard to capture with a camera. They're a little too translucent for use as a single layer in clothing though.

Chiffons are also going to be *way* too thin to use as garb trims, unfortunately.

But, there's something else to the rescue...silk dupions.

They have *so many* plain colours, but they also have a *ton* of shot dupions. They're way more sheeny than the chiffons too, and opaque.

More shot dupions. I took a *lot* of photos in this section.

I'm not sure if shot silks are period, but I really hope they are.

Ok, ok, last of them, I swear!

These are the two dupions I was thinking about for the headband. A way to tell the shot colour is to look at the threads where it's cut.

I also wonder if this pink patterned dupion would be acceptable in place of a brighter brocade for a trim. Might be too subtle though.

So, looks like I don't need to get any fabrics posted at all, which is *very* good.

I picked up a cheap graph pad, so I can start working on patterns and layouts, and see just how much fabric I need.

If the weather cools down (hahahaha) I'll hopefully have the serk sleeves worked out tomorrow - then, I'll tack the gores and the sleeves, and try it all on for initial fitting. (If I can get the sewing machine set up, I'll sew it properly to double-check the fit.)