Favorite Material?
for anything, anything at all. May help to provide your specific craft for reference.
I'm just very partial to a good twill. Soft. Drapes beautifully. Timelessly classy. Just blew my nose on a scrap from an old garment that made it into the recycled rag pile and it was just so soft on my nose. Twills are just the best and if it's an option for a project I'll probably pick it.
Anybody else got a mildly irrational preference for a material, weave, etc?
Linen linen linen! It is so texture! Linen thread for embroidery, linen patches for clothes, anything linen gets a thumbs up from me.
and so good on the skin in the summer
Wearing linen right now and loving the summer!
As a knitter, I’m happiest knitting with merino. Guess I’m a basic bitch but there you have it. I just know what it’s gonna do and how it’s gonna act when I’m done with it; no surprises. And if it’s good quality, it’s really soft (unless you’re allergic).
As a sewist, I think I’m still figuring it out. I haven’t done much with twill yet, so I’ll have to branch out. I think of it as mostly for pants, and I don’t sew a lot of pants (yet) because I’m too chicken, and also I’m trying to lose weight (getting some help from meds, yes) so right now I’m waiting to see how that goes before I spend a lot of time on a structured, fitted garment. I’ve done plenty with linen and I like it fine, same with a basic cotton. And I’ve mostly figured knits out for simple dolman tees, my favorite. But I can’t say I love sewing with them or anything.
expensive? (I crochet with acrylic when I do)
Yes… I mostly ask for it as Christmas or birthday gifts. But also, I knit one sweater in acrylic and it wouldn’t hold its shape at all, so I decided I was done with that. And it was soft to begin with, but over time it felt like it got a weird film on it. Hard to describe, kind of slick yet tacky at the same time? Plasticky! Meanwhile, I’ve knit wool sweaters that I’ve used for years no problem. But this has been my main hobby for about 20 years so I don’t muck around much anymore. I also don’t knit as fast anymore; I have kids and picked up sewing so most of my knitting time is during meetings, and that means it takes me months and months to finish a sweater.
I like to sew, and I often use old clothes as material for projects and practice, but my favorite by far is denim from jeans
see? Twill. Twill is where it's at.