Sewing Where to get silk fabric?

Check out CroseFabrics on Etsy, they'rein China and have nice silk/cotton blends that look like silk and work/drape nicely for doll scale projects

Teddy

 

Also look for used silk saris. There are stupid cheap to buy, and generally have meters and meters of usable fabric in them.

 

I second buying used silk saris. Now the patterns on them might not be small enough for MSD or even SD use but if you want colored silks, they are a good way to go! Oh and I use alligator clips when sewing silk because the fabric is so slippery. (I hand stitch.)

 

I bought two vintage saris from Sanskriti Vintage - their prices were good back in 2023 and they had a lot to select from. There are also sari scrap sellers on etsy. However, the ones I got from Sanskriti Vintage is a WHOLE sari so it is yards and yards of fabric. So I would consider how much you need.

Way back in the early 2000s, I bought a bolt of raw silk from Dharma Trading Company (I also bought dyes from them). They still sell fabric and scarves. So you could also check their against your price point.

 

You're welcome! You can get BINDER clips in all kinds of sizes (I always call them alligator clips but that is wrong. Those go in your hair usually and have pointed edges. Don't want that!). So if you are working on something small, you get the minis or even smaller! Amazon has them but so do most office supply or stationary stores!

 

Just a warning to be careful - I don't know about in Australia, but here in the UK prices vary from extremely cheap to astronomically expensive BUT you can't rely on sari's sold as silk actually being silk.

I've been stung several times (both buying second hand, and buying fabric yardage from Indian fabric shops) where I've ended up with a synthetic mix instead of 100% silk. I think it may be some sort of cultural thing, given that I usually encountered complete incomprehension as to why I'd be bothered enough to take it back and complain/ask for a refund when I discovered it's not 100% natural fibre (same situation buying "cotton" yardage too).

I use to live in an area with a big Indian population so Sari shops and Indian-run fabric shops abounded. I learned to always ask for a small sample of fabric to take outside for a burn test before buying (fine for yardage, not really an option when buying a woven-length like a sari).

Teddy

 

I have had a lot of luck with ebay vendors. The ones I bought from were very careful to lable their saris as pure silk, silk blend, or "art silk" (which is artificial "silk").

 

As far as I'm aware the Etsy place I linked are pretty good about stating the actual fibre content.

Teddy

 

Joann Fabrics sometimes has sari fabric - I bought some a while back (by a while back, I guess it's been nearly a decade). I don't know if you have one in your town. I guess it depends on what you're looking for - solid colors or patterned. The smaller the doll, the smaller the pattern needed (which is usually on cotton for quilting).

 

I think they're just a a US company, aren't they? I don't think they have outlets in Australia.

Teddy

 

Aaaah you're probably right Teddy...phooie. Are there any fabric stores in your town @morganatron?

 

Ah phooie. Well...at least you have a lot of ideas now?