8 great Fall fabrics to sew

The days are hinting at Fall in Colorado which makes me start thinking about cozy, textured fabrics and layering all the things.

I combed through my stash to find all the fabrics that are perfect for this time of year. Here are 8 Fall fabrics to sew. Which one will be first on your list?

Plaids

Plaids are great anytime of year, but in fall, you can find some really nice wool plaids.

I found this one as a 1 yard remnant at Colorado Fabrics. I’m thinking it’ll be a great skirt or a giant scarf.

Also, there’s all kinds of wonderful shirtings in Fall color palettes. This one is a bit multi season. I’m thinking it’ll be a great Deer and Doe Bleuet. Of course, if you’re a vintage pattern lover, there’s so many fantastic vintage shirtdress patterns out there screaming for a good mustardy plaid!

Check out Fabric Mart’s selection of plaids. They always have an excellent selection of shirtings.

Cotton Jersey

Cotton jersey is one of those fabrics you can wear in any season. I love it for Fall as long tees that I use to layer under sweaters or jumper dresses.

This one was a bit of a luxury purchase in the form of Liberty of London jersey from The Fabric Store.

If you’re into layering tops, a good basic raglan tee won’t let you down. Make your own raglan tee here.

Sueded knits

There’s something about this time of year that makes me think of wanting to add texture to everything!

Sueded knit is one of those fabrics. That slight brush to the surface is so nice when the air turns crisp. And the beautiful drape that you get in a sueded knit is wonderful for twists and giant cowls that are a little bit dressy + a whole lotta drama.

I made this dress earlier this year, and it is going to be worn six ways to Sunday with every last pair of boots I own this Fall!

Just be sure to practice on a test scrap to find the right needle for a sueded knits. They can be a little fussy to work with. I found they worked really well with a ballpoint needle on my machine and an ultraglide or roller foot. Find out more about picking the best needle for knits.

Crepe

Crepe is in Team Texture and Team Drape as well, and there’s a lot of different varieties of it.

This bouncy poly crepe will be really nice as some wide legged pants, or another version of Vogue 2787. It’s a reproduction pattern from 1948, and the crepe does so well with all those lovely gathered bits!

This thicker wool crepe will be a nice pair of lined pants. It’s starting out ivory, but I have dreams of it being ombre dyed!

Sweater knits

There’s sweater knits for really every season, and there’s some excellent choices for Fall fabrics. If it says “lightweight” when you go to order it, chances are, it’s not going to keep you warm.

If you live where it’s warmer in the Fall, maybe that’s how you get your waterfall cardigan cake and eat it too.

Me? Sweater knits need to be warm enough to make cozy sweaters, dresses to wear with tights, or actual button down cardigans. It’s too cold in Colorado!

Sweater knits are also one of those things you should look for at a thrift store. There you can often find wool blends that are crazy warm on the cheap. See how to turn an old sweater into a refashioned sweater shrug.

Corduroy

Again with the touchy feely fabrics here. If there’s a fabric that says Fall more than corduroy, I’m sure I don’t know it.

Use it for some cozy pants, skirts, overalls, or jumper dresses like Tilly and the Buttons Cleo.

Some day I’m going to find the right corduroy and make a real blazer with leather elbow patches!

Wool in general

Fall is the start of wool season! If you’re lucky enough to find good wool jersey, or wool suiting it’s definitely worth an investment. Merino wools and cashmeres tend to not be as scratchy as other wool. And if you wear them on your lower half with tights, you might be able to wear them without them bothering you if you have more sensitive skin.

I bought this rich teal wool jersey from the classifieds on Patternreview, and it so very much wants to be a drapey wrap dress or skirt.

Great sources for beautiful wool jerseys: Elliott Berman Textiles, Mood, New Zealand Merino and Fabrics, Emma One Sock.

Faux leather

Maybe Fall is a little tough. Whatever the case, faux leather + Fall just seem to go together in my head.

Make up a fun skirt or use it as accents on a sweater. Or make a full on bomber jacket.

I’d like to make another version of my Rose Tyler cosplay jacket out of this snakeskin print. When I find the right ribbing for the cuffs and hem, it’s go time!

The nice thing about faux leather vs. real leather is that you can buy it as yardage instead of having to stress about how many skins to buy. Just be sure that you get a swatch to make sure it’s not too heavy. There’s a lot of faux leathers out there that are really meant more for upholstery than apparel.

I’ve created a fabric swatch guide just for my newsletter subscribers. It tells you all the online fabric stores I can find that offer swatches. You can sign up below to get access to the Resource Library where you can find the swatch guide and a growing list of other goodies!

If it’s got a little drape, you’re in business. If it looks like it should be on a couch, well, it probably should.

There’s some nice faux leathers at Lush Fabrics, and Spandex World has a good selection of solid faux leathers.

So those are 8 different Fall fabrics that are great for sewing this time of year.

See the Fall fabrics in action

Looking for more info on shopping for fabric online?

• Check out the Ultimate Jumbo Mega Guide of Online Fabric Stores–a growing resource of well over 200 stores across the globe for every fabric need.
• 16 Tips to Better Online Fabric Shopping: because we all buy lemons once in a while. These tips will keep you from making bad fabric purchases!