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How (and Why!) to Set Up a Fabric Swatch Book!

June 15, 2017

Fabric Swatch Book, Free Download | Vintage on Tap

A fabric swatch book? What the heck is that?

I’ll just say it up front: my fabric swatch book is one of the most important tools in my sewing arsenal.

The swatch book has never before appeared in a single video, but I consult it regularly and it lives next to my giant sewing pattern library. Its invaluable. If I ever have a fabric question, its there for me.

A fabric swatch book is a book of possibilities.

Setting up my book was one of the very first projects I did as a textile design student and it taught me a few really important things:

  1. Fabric names and fiber contents
  2. Weaves and characteristics of each type of fabric
  3. Suitable end uses

Of course, this sort of education for a home seamstress and sewist may only come from a fabric mishap and can be a painful experience. For someone who may not know what is out there, they might not know of everything they could work with. Especially if you live in an area where really high quality fabric stores are not available, not being exposed to different fabrics and understanding how they differ can really set you back in growing as a seamstress.

Fabric Swatch Book, Free Download | Vintage on Tap

Online fabric stores can be a game changer, but you have to know where to start.

I’m sure there is a percentage of people who order fabric online because they expect one thing… but get something else.

Fiber content and qualities are described as accurately as possible, but if you’ve never been exposed to Georgette, you will have no idea what it is you’re ordering.

Enter, swatches.

I am a huge fan of ordering swatches, specifically ordering swatches in bulk. A swatch will tell you more than color of a textile- but it’ll show you the weave, the drape, the amount of body, the color vibrancy. It’ll give you the ability to test color fastness, laundering qualities, and how much your fabric shrinks.

Usually priced relatively cheaply ($1-$2 a swatch), I recommend picking up 3-4 swatches every online order to start building your book.

Fabric Swatch Book, Free Download | Vintage on Tap

Building your Fabric Swatch book is SUPER easy.

Gather up your materials!

  • Cardstock
  • 3M double sided tape
  • Hole punch
  • Scissors or pinking shears
  • 3-ring binder

Use the free printable!

FREE Fabric Swatch Printable!

Get this FREE printable swatch sheet in your inbox!

Awesome! Now check your email to confirm your subscription and get your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

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My free printable is organized with what is most important to me in a swatch, specifically:

  • Fabric name
  • Fiber content
  • Characteristics
  • Source

The download includes three pages, the first as pictured above, the second page reverses the position of the swatch boxes (for an evenly balanced binder!), and the third includes blank boxes in case you want to track different information than what I use personally.

If you love working with nothing but natural fibers, you might want a box that talks about shrinkage. If you want to have pages dedicated to a specific fabric company, you might want to include a box that talks about release date or collection.

Ultimately, build your swatch book in the way that might work best for you.

 

Fabric Swatch Book, Free Download | Vintage on Tap

Step One: Ordering Swatches

Every time you place a fabric order online, order swatches. Every.time.

Swatches are cheap and you should really aim to start collecting swatches from fabric you’ve never used before.

Scuba knit? Double knit? Broadcloth? By ordering a few at a time, you start to build an array to add to your book. Also, if you’re seeing the same types of fabrics listed as recommended fabrics in your favorite sewing patterns, order them, too.

Another tip I recommend is that if you see a free swatch sample available, jump on it! For services like Spoonflower and My Fabric Designs, new fabric types become available regularly and swatches are usually distributed for promotional purposes. Put in an order and add it to the book.

Step Two: Build the Book

This is pretty straight forward, but please note a few things as you get started:

  1. Please use cardstock or thicker paper for this project. Regular paper is too flimsy for heavy use.
  2. You can print your sheets double sided! This way, you don’t waste paper and you can get more swatches into your binder.
  3. Decide early on how you want to organize your book. Do you want everything organized by source location? By color? By fiber content? This doesn’t have to be a strict choice, but it’ll help you organize things and find things later down the road when all like-swatches are near each other.
  4. 3M Double-sided permanent tape might not seem like it’ll hold: but it’ll hold (I promise!) My original university book still has its swatches firmly in place, even after 6 years!

Follow along with the video, and get your book set up. And then, flip through and admire it!

Step Three: Use the Swatch Book Regularly + Add to the Book

This is where the book and its uses really shine!

Picture this: you’re about to work on a brand new pattern and the recommended fabric is a satin charmeuse. You’ve never used satin charmeuse. But. You happen to remember ordering a swatch of that a while back- so you go and consult the swatch book. Now, you know what you’re getting into.

Or, you’re in a fabric store and absolutely NOTHING is labeled. But, you touch the fabrics in store, consult your book, and now know that you’re buying 3 yards of organza and what sort of sewing needles you should be using with it.

The uses in this vein will go on and on. A pattern might say to use a “silky type”- and you can flip through, find all your silky fabrics, and decide right away which one of them you’re going to use. Or, you might go into a department store and try on a top where you love the fabric- you can later consult your book to find out what they used so you can replicate it from home.

Adding to the book is a piece of cake.

Besides ordering the swatches as above, you’ll also want to add swatches of the projects you’re working on as you try new fabrics out.

As I said in my video, not all Italian stretch wool fabrics are going to be the same and documenting the differences are going to hone your sewing and textile discerning skills. Not all tana lawns are the same, not all midweight cotton knits are the same, etc. etc.

Building a catalog of the fabrics you’ve worked with- in addition to the swatches you’ve ordered, will make the book more robust and you’ll become stronger at recognizing the differences.

Ultimately, getting this fabric swatch book set up will allow you to expand your fabric knowledge and be able to more accurately select the perfect fabric for your project.

Fabric Swatch Book, Tutorial | Vintage on Tap

Do you have a fabric swatch book? What sorts of fabrics would you want to include right away?

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links :)

 
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Filed Under: Techniques & Tips, Tools Tagged With: fabric, free download, protip, resources

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tina Starling says

    April 20, 2022 at 12:50 pm

    Hi, I’m unable to get the download to process. I would love the fabric swatch printable. Thank you !

    Reply
    • Bianca says

      April 22, 2022 at 10:26 am

      Hi Tina! Thanks for letting me know. Please send me an email at bianca@vintageontap.com and I can go ahead and send you over the download!

      Reply
  2. Juana Fernandez says

    November 8, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    where would i find the fabric information needed to complete the swatch book

    Reply
    • Bianca says

      November 10, 2017 at 7:47 pm

      Good question! You can find the info for your swatch book on a couple different places. If you’re buying the fabric in store, the info is usually printed on the side of the bolt. I personally snap a quick photo with my phone before I head over to the cut table, just so I have it on hand for when I head home. If you’re buying the fabric online, the info is usually listed on the website itself. If you’re ordering from a really nice place online, the swatches sometimes have a printed label attached to them that you can copy over.

      Hope this helps!

      Reply
  3. SomedaySewing says

    June 20, 2017 at 10:15 am

    Thank you! I have been thinking of doing this, but I have just never figured out a nice, clean way to do it. I have swatches to put in a binder this weekend!

    Reply
    • Bianca says

      July 5, 2017 at 4:18 pm

      Woo hoo! Hope the little download was useful for your book!

      Reply
  4. Sherri says

    June 16, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    I have a 12×12 book meant for scrapbooking. I put clear photo inserts in it each section measuring 3×5. It holds an index card containing info similar to yours and a fabric sample. I can remove thesample and take it with me if I need when I go fabric shopping.

    Reply
    • Bianca says

      July 5, 2017 at 4:17 pm

      Oh- that’s such a clever idea, Sherri! I might actually have to do something similar with the index card- it would make for such a faster trip to the fabric store that way! I also heard another good idea is to put the index card into an accordion sleeve, too.

      Reply

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This blog started in 2013

Vintage on Tap is dedicated to 1940s and 1950s vintage, leaning into the beautiful fashion and culture which we get to enjoy and recreate today. This blog takes a fun, kitsch, and modern approach in highlighting Vintage Fashion not Vintage Values, leaning into all things from the era as well as sharing a candid, behind-the-scenes perspective on building the Vintage on Tap YouTube channel.

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Back at the machine with baby steps. You know, eve Back at the machine with baby steps. You know, even after having sewn for nearly 25 years, after a long break, it can just feel jolting… like, will I remember how to thread the machine? Yikes!! Guess it keeps me humble LOL⁠
⁠
This past weekend I dusted off my machine again, purposefully prioritizing *simple*, purposefully going for The Next Best Step. And it felt… wonderful. I’m actually extremely glad I didn’t go for something complex that needed insane fitting; I purposefully went for “The Pillowcase” of all garments— a camisole 🤣⁠
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What was kind of nice about working on this was:⁠
⁠
1. I knew I would be able to finish it in a day and feel immediately accomplished⁠
2. I knew it would actually get a shit ton of use out here in Arizona (it’s already getting into the 80s 😰)⁠
3. The piece would be something I could use during the work week to cheer myself up and start to build up my little summer capsule wardrobe⁠
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Is it vintage inspired? Not particularly— as I said, it was the basic of the most basic… ON PURPOSE. But hey, now I can dream up some cute vintage-inspired cardis to throw over this; I can tell that the air conditioner game here is going to be WILD and my casual layering needs to step it up.⁠
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#CreativeStudio
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So, I’ve been doing the things I know are the foundation of having a creative sewing and YouTuber practice: ⁠
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✨ Looking at and admiring vintage fashion again, my true love (besides Jose!) I filmed a little video about this not too long ago and it was actually way more cup-filling than I thought it would be, for as simple as it was. Just flipping the pages was enough to make me happy. (But also, shooting that thumbnail image and being silly was a lot of fun LOL)⁠
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✨ Reading! Been super interested in Truman Capote’s social self sabotage after watching The Feud: Capote vs The Swans and I had to go to the source! If you haven’t read “Answered Prayers,” it’s a whirlwind of delicious prose, even if the book was never finished. The cliffhanger of it all! Just started “Capote’s Women”  and looking forward to devouring that.⁠
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✨ Knitting, because it’s been too long since I’ve made something for myself. Feeling a similar sort of ennui that @sleepless_in_bavaria spoke about sewing a while back— I’m still in it but taking baby steps before I cut into a new piece of fabric.⁠
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✨ Meditating and journaling. Because they’re practices that I know work for me, when I create space for them.⁠
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Anyway, burn out sucks. I know I’ll figure it out, but purposefully leaning on those foundational pieces I haven’t been spending time on that actually help make me feel fulfilled. ⁠
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#burnoutrecovery
Between making this Reel and posting it I went fro Between making this Reel and posting it I went from… totally confirmed for Viva this year to deciding not to go 😢 I know, WHACK. But to be honest, I just needed to bow out for this year for my mental health. 

While I totally could have swung going ($$ and PTO!)- I decided that this year I just couldn’t bring myself to stretch for it, energetically. Stressing over sewing? Stressing over making sure to get it all organized and squared away on time? Stressing over things I’ve ordered showing up on time? No- not this year 💔

Next year, though. Because I can’t stay away and I know it’s a blast. Looking forward to being able to make it with more chispas, more upbeat energy, and with more people to meet up with 😉

In the meantime, Imma go watch the video I made last year to remind me of the good times, even if this year I’m choosing a different type of vacay (more details soon… 🏖️) 

#vivalasvegasrockabillyweekend
It's been 84 years...! Finally sharing my Viva Las It's been 84 years...! Finally sharing my Viva Las Vegas photos now that the video is out 🥰 So ok- not 84 years, but definitely 9 whole months 🫣⁠
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We had an absolute blast this past year, especially since we came in prepared for all the tonterias that we were about to be up to. If you were following along during the lead up to, I went straight into speed demon mode to sew all the looks and I've gotta say, looking back on them now, I'm so proud that I was able to pull it together. Were they all 100%? No- but close enough to have a good time and feel like myself. ⁠
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Anyway, for as much video as we shot, we actually didn't take as many pictures as you might think 🤯 But here's a few that really encapsulate the vibe.⁠
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Can't wait for the next one!⁠
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#vivalasvegas
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My Ins/Outs are absolutely in line with where my head has been at for weeks, in the good way. The themes end up circling around a few things:⁠
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1️⃣: Sharing my creative process and showing "unfinished" work. Letting go of perfectionism, and not overthinking everything to the point of taking no action (my kryptonite!)⁠
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2️⃣: Taking care of myself, both physically and mentally. Yes, there's the basics like wearing sunscreen regularly again ( #VoTinthedesert ) but it also includes getting regular cardio in to continue to improve my heart health.⁠
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As I've been sharing on my Stories, I've got a lot of fun things in the works and these Ins/Outs are a taste of that. I'm going to be sharing a long-time project that is nearing completion (hurray!) -- as well as sharing some new sewing project work that I think will fill my cup right now. ⁠
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Yes, my cactus era has begun 🌵

I’m not going to lie, this move has been painful; I love California and it’s home. I’ve had so many of my formative experiences there, met many amazing people, and every single day there was something new to fall in love with. No, it’s not the doom loop you hear about (but even the rough parts are home.)

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In the words of Frank Sinatra~

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