Casual Wear…The New Summer 2020 Fashion Trend.

work from home

photo courtesy: andrea piacquadio

 

With everyone from corporate power players and university professors, to fashion stylists and customer service reps working from home, work place dress codes have taken a bit of a shift from their standard protocol, towards the more ‘comfortable’ casual wear. Who can blame us? We all know how comfortable casual velvet, brushed cottons, jersey knits and stretch fabrics can be in athletic wear, pj’s and yoga wear. Even Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour who once professed to never stoop so low as to wear sweats, deigned to be photographed for an article wearing just such a leisure habiliment. Could the professional script on the horizon now be flipped from ‘casual Friday’s’ to ‘casual everyday’? Will the standard ‘dress down’ be the new ‘dress up’? Only time will tell.

Ask Netfah: Special Care for Cotton Tube Fabric

jandofabricsDear Netfah,

I recently purchased a cotton jersey knit that came in a tube. Aside from pre-washing, do I need to do anything in particular to the fabric before cutting the pieces into a garment?

~Sandy / Detroit-MI

 

 

 

Dear Sandy,

Once you have pre-washed the fabric to reduce any additional shrinkage, simply cut along one of the folds and steam or press  to remove the fold line. If it won’t press out or if the fold line is unfortunately somewhat faded due to overexposure to light over time, you will want to be mindful to utilize your fabric strategically so as not to reveal any defects on your final garment.

Ask Netfah: Poodle Skirt Fabric

 Dear Netfah,

I am attending a 1950’s themed party in September and wanted to try my hand at making one of the fun poodle skirts from my youth. My only problem is I don’t want to use any felt. While it looks and works great for the garment, I just really never liked it that much. Any suggestions for an alternative fabric that will hang and flow the same way?

No Felt for My Poodle/ Cambridge, Ma.

Dear NFFMP,

Ask Netfah: Knit Shrinkage Prevention.

Dear Netfah,


The other day I bought a cotton/poly knit, kind of like the tee shirt material, that I really love. I am planning to make a dress for a friends birthday and wanted to know if I should prewash it to allow room for shrinkage before I start cutting.


-Suzie, San Francisco CA

Dear Suzie,

I would suggest washing almost any NON dry clean only material before I construct a garment in this case not only for shrinkage allowance, but for the same reason its good to wash new clothes before you wear them; you never know where they have been stored or what unwanted pests and chemicals may have found their way into the fibers.