Most first orders go wrong at the fabric, not at the pattern. The fit can be corrected on a sample; a fabric that pills, wrinkles the wrong way or reads cheap in daylight cannot be. You find out too late, after five hundred pieces are cut.
These are the seven fabrics we hold, what each one actually behaves like, and how to choose between them without a textile degree.
What the fabric decides
Three things, and all three are expensive to change later.
- The price you can charge. A mulberry silk satin and a brushed fleece can carry the same pattern and sit in completely different positions on a shelf.
- The care label. Hand wash, cold machine wash, or dry clean — that line decides how many customers keep the garment.
- The return rate. Pilling, shrinkage and clinging are fabric problems. They arrive as complaints about fit.
The seven we hold
| Fabric | What it feels like | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|
| Washed Pure Linen | Garment-washed before cutting, so it arrives with the softness most linen only reaches after a season | Summer ranges, a dry cool hand, a natural look that tolerates creasing |
| Naked-Feel Butter Soft Knit | Very soft against the skin with almost no surface texture | Sleep sets and loungewear where comfort is the whole proposition |
| Sculpt-Seam Studio Knit | Firmer, with enough body to hold a seam line | Activewear and pieces that should look sharp rather than soft |
| Fluid Jersey Knit | Fine gauge, soft, heavy enough to fall straight | Everyday sets that need to keep a clean shoulder line |
| Cloud Micro-Modal | Smooth, cool, faintly slippery | Anyone who dislikes the dry feel of cotton |
| Mulberry Silk Satin | Cool, fluid, with a low sheen rather than a shine | Gifting and the top of a range |
| Cozy Brushed Velvet Fleece | Warm, dense, brushed on the inside | Winter and cold-climate markets |
The question that decides it
Not "which is best". Ask what the garment has to survive.
- A shop that photographs everything. Choose the fabric that photographs flat and true — jersey and satin, not brushed fleece.
- A customer who washes everything on 40°C. Choose the one that survives it. Ask for the shrinkage figure on the sample, in writing.
- A gift market. Silk satin, sold as a set, with packaging that survives a courier.
- A humid climate. Modal and jersey. Linen creases and velvet fleece is a winter garment.
Where each one fails
Every fabric has a failure mode. Better to know it before you order than to discover it in reviews.
- Linen creases, and the first wash changes the hand slightly. Sell that as character or do not sell linen.
- Butter-soft knits can pill where the garment rubs — under the arm, at the seat. Heavier gauge lasts longer.
- Sculpt knits are firmer by design. They are activewear, not sleepwear.
- Jersey can cling in humidity. A slightly heavier gauge solves it.
- Modal dries more slowly than cotton. In a shared laundry that matters.
- Silk satin marks with water and dislikes heat. It needs a care label people actually read.
- Brushed fleece is bulky to ship and can shed. Keep it to winter ranges and warn about the dryer.
What a swatch cannot tell you
A 10 cm square tells you colour and hand. It does not tell you how the fabric drapes at 60 cm, how it behaves after five washes, or how it looks under a warm shop light rather than a cool studio one. All three decide whether the garment sells.
That is why we cut a sample garment rather than send swatches only. Sampling runs 7–10 days, and the sample is the thing you approve — not a photograph of it.
The short version
Start with jersey or butter-soft knit if this is your first range: they are forgiving, they photograph well, and they suit a wide climate. Move to linen or silk satin once you know your customer will pay for the difference. Keep brushed fleece for a winter capsule, and never launch a whole range in it.