So my sister wants to start sewing more, because
a. She’s 5′ 11″ and can never find pants long enough for her legs or shirts long enough for her arms.
b. She hates synthetic fibers as much as I do and it’s difficult to find natural fiber clothes that aren’t made of cotton
c. She’s a biologist and would physically fistfight microplastics if given half a chance
So her gift from mom and dad for her birthday was a sewing machine. Not a super expensive one but a good solid serviceable one.
And recently she asked “So where do I GET wool or linen and thread that isn’t polyester” and mom was like ‘go ask your sister’
And I, of course, crashed into the group text like “GET A PEN I HAVE WEBSITES FOR U” and honestly I’m thrilled about this
“Where did u get all this”
“Bets, u know I’m a 15th degree blackbelt of buying shit on the internet”
“oh yeah tru”
Op can may we inquire about the website list
cotton and Silk thread; https://redrockthreads.com/
Linen thread and wool fabric; https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com/ (they’ve got wool stuffs and worsted wool fabric for $15 a yard! I just got three yards of navy worsted wool I’m making a constellation winter skirt from)
More linen thread and wool; https://wmboothdraper.com/ (just ordered wool broadcloth to make a coat)
Silk fabric (THE best place to get silk lining fabrics and raw silk fabric):https://www.dharmatrading.com/
A varying assortment of wool and silk and cotton and even some leather, use coupon code spring2020 for 50% off your full order, worked yesterday when I bought some stuff there; https://metrotextilesnyc.com/
Wool. You want wool coating for under $20 a yard? Sure you do. It’s here. Not a huge variety of colors, most are black or brown, but hey https://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/Catalog?refinementIds=4096748&Keyword=wool&pageSize=16
I don’t know a lot about sewing, but I want to make or have my mom make some linen pants & shirts for when I’m watering, because it gets to 105 here and we have mosquitos so I need to be covered. What type of linen do I buy? Also, linen pajama shorts, yes/no?
(I’ve been wearing my renfaire pants which are a linen mix, I think. But the frikking mosquitos that hide in the tomatoes get my arms)
Medium weight is what I’d go with.
And linen pajama shorts is a HARD yes.
Renaissance Fabrics is good for all sorts of things
Mood doesn’t specialize in natural fabrics but they do have basically every fabric ever made so
For wools, I cannot recommend Woolsome enough! They’re a bit more expensive then the above links, but they have a spectacular range of colours and weights, as well as diamond pattern and herringbone weaves. They also have a range of linens, though not as extensive.
Tiedtohistory.com has sheer voile linen
The Linen Lab has a variety of weaves, weights, and colors available
Period Fabric has a variety of wools, but switch to the full website if you’re on mobile
adding, look for fabric thrift stores either near you, or on the internet. for instance, Swansons has both a store (the stash house) and a website, and adds new stuff to the web site each week. you have to be ready to jump on the thing you want, but they get some amazing stuff (any and all fibers, including linen and wool) and it's all like $5/yard. follow on IG, become a member for first dibs, etc.
also adding this podcast, threads of sustainability, because she talks to people in all aspects of fiber production, use, and reuse (including Swansons!) so you begin to get more sense of what is out there, what the challenges are, etc.
congrats on the sewing machine, you can now make anything you want to wear, and ditch fast fashion forever.