Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clothing and fabric

The Great Ecstasy of the Signer Herzog

Dr. Wu — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:50:02 -0800

How do I preserve Werner Herzog's signature on my t-shirt? I met Werner Herzog the other night at the IFC Center's screening of his excellent new movie, MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE. I'd been meaning to buy one of these "Cinemetal" Herzog/Danzig t-shirts for a while, and figured this was the right time to finally do it.

Herzog signed my shirt with a Sharpie, thus rendering a cool shirt even cooler. I'd like to wear the shirt and preserve the signature on it. Can you suggest a product with which I could treat the shirt so that the signature persists, even after laundering the shirt?

I hypothesized that something called "fabric fixative" might exist, and, lo and behold, it does! I found some here, on the site of a company recommended by various MeFites. Will this product do the job? Or might there be some alternative, or some additional product I can use for insurance?

I also looked at the "Sharpie blog," and found that they recommend heat-treating to preserve Sharpie marks on fabric, so I'll do that. But I really want to render this autograph as indelible as I can, so all further tips are welcome.

Danke!

Describing a dress shirt.

phrontist — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:25:31 -0800

I'm sartorially clueless. How would you describe this kind of shirt? It's a "dress shirt", sure, but how would you specify the fabric and cut (particularly that type of collar)? Here is another example. I'm looking to buy some shirts like these but when I go to department stores I can only find this sort of thing - which is cut completely differently and uses an extremely thin fabric. Help me articulate the differences.

1. Peeps 2. Glue Gun 3. ???? 4. PROFIT!

Unicorn on the cob — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:07:42 -0800

I want to affix Peeps (the Easter atrocities) to fabric in order to make a costume. BY TOMORROW. Crafty MeFites, hope me with your glue-gun wisdom! I am attending an Easter party tomorrow that requires some kind of costume. Everybody knows I hate Peeps more than anything in the world, and lo and behold, the neon critters are on sale. So I decided to make myself into one giant neon Bunny Peep. Tons of googling and clicking leads me to believe that I can hot-glue them directly onto most things, and ribbon is mentioned here in this book.

A friend who is quite crafty has assured me that Peeps + glue gun + fabric = disaster; there must be something between, like a piece of cardboard or other intermediary surface that will adhere to the hot glue while also keeping the fabric from sticking to any backing, myself, etc.

I have already cut open the packages to allow them to harden as much as possible so they don't melt as soon as they touch the glue gun; I'm not sure that spray-varnishing them now would have them ready-to-wear by tomorrow afternoon, since the varnish would have to dry overnight. (I read that one woman allowed them to dry for five days before making them into garlands and wreaths, and 5 days from now is not an option). Also, I don't want to buy more stuff unless I have to; something around the house (painting tape? more fabric? buttons? I'm listening...) would be ideal.

Please don't suggest another costume idea; I already spent time and money getting this ball rolling and won't have time to whip up anything else from scratch, time-wise or financially. I have a lot of neon pink components now in front of me--what I lack is the ingenuity to make it stick. Literally.

Alternatively, would another type of adhesive work better? I am not married to the glue gun; it's mentioned a lot in Peeps craft links, though. Bonus if you have experience making arts and crafts with Peeps--firsthand knowledge is what I'm really looking for here.

Dying cotton clothes without shrinking them?

flyingcowofdoom — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:28:37 -0800

Is it possible to dye white shirts and dark blue shirts (both 100% cotton with a shelf bra that is 95% cotton/5% spandex) black without shrinking them? I have some shirts that are white and some that are dark blue that I would like to dye black. All of the shirts are 100% cotton with shelf bras that are 95% cotton / 5% spandex. I have read about using fiber-reactive dyes that are supposedly "cold water dyes" but they still require very warm water. How warm can the water be before it starts to shrink the clothes? Are there any dyes that work in actual cold water? Any shared experiences would be helpful! TIA!

When do I have to buy new clothes, anyway?

Countess Elena — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:57:19 -0800

I know hardly anything about the modern economics of building clothing. Tell me -- how can I determine if my clothes can be resized to measure, and whether that would cost more than the clothes are worth? I lose and gain weight seasonally, and also depending on my personal traumas and/or resolve to exercise. I generally hesitate to buy myself high-priced clothes for this reason. The last time I asked a seamstress about reducing the size of a skirt, she said she doubted if she could make the skirt smaller, much less whether it would be worth it for me, as opposed to buying another.

I can only remember one time in my life that a garment could actually be enlarged for me, and that was a costume for a play, a satin gown which didn't need to be constructed to bear up under daily use. This lack of flexibility bothers me, since there is a particular gown that I love in the family attic and that I want to wear as a wedding gown. If I ever do get married, the gown will have to be adjusted one way or the other, and I don't know if it can. But I ask mainly because of my office business-casual clothing requirements. It's hard enough to find things that look mature without being dowdy.

What can I bear in mind about the construction of clothing, while purchasing clothes and looking at my own in the closet?

Natural fabrics?

fjardt — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:31:21 -0800

What are the best natural clothing materials, and where can i buy them (possibly already made into clothing)? Well, basically i seek certain qualities in the fabrics:
- natural; i tend to stay away from plasticy feeling fabrics, but only because they seem unnatural to me. Let's say i'm looking for the organic foods version of fabric, not the overprocessed, chemicals added, packaged, and so on.. Maybe, though, there are some that are fine. Do they biodegrade and not create a lot of waste in the manufacture process? I want to be conscious thereto, as well.
- still practical for the purpose; breathable for hot weather, durable for work, warm and protective for the cold

So far i could only think of cotton and hemp. I am beginning to modify and make my own clothing, so it is fine if i can find these materials alone, but stores that sell reasonably priced hemp or pure cotton clothing would be grand. Of course, thereabout might it be utopic to think.

How do I get fried chicken smell out of not-very-washable clothing items?

fiercecupcake — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:46:55 -0800

How do I get fried chicken smell out of fabrics? I would just wash them, but two of them (a jacket and a shawl) aren't very washable. We made fried chicken last night, and now everything we were wearing smells like fried chicken -- her jacket, my sweatshirt, and my shawl. This is making me really unhappy.

I Googled and searched AskMe and I am not getting anywhere. Baking soda? Vanilla extract? Coffee beans? Time? I'm not keen on Febreeze, but if someone tells me that's the only thing that works, I guess I'll do it.

Help us de-stink some kimonos

chippie — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:21:21 -0800

My friend recently bought several used kimonos in Japan. Upon arriving home, she discovered that they smelled strongly of mothballs. How to get rid of the smell without ruining the kimonos? One or more of the kimonos might be silk, but the others are probably rayon or a similar fabric. They're all lined and are nice quality, but not antiques. She's washed them twice and hung them in the sun to dry. They washed well, but still the mothball odor lingers. Any suggestions for how to gently remove the smell?

T-shirt cotton conundrum

everichon — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:29:28 -0800

I have a lot of cotton t-shirts, of the medium-to-heavy weight kind that usually have something printed on them. There seem to be two distinct kinds of cotton fabric in the shirts: Good: After a few washes, the shirt becomes soft and kind of broken in. Bad: the shirt never really becomes soft or broken in, and worse, inevitably comes out of the dryer with (clean) lint and cat hair all over it. So I have two questions about this:
1. What accounts for the different outcomes for two 100% cotton shirts?
2. Is there any solution, ASIDE from using fabric softener? Any non-nasty alternatives to fabric softener?

Stop my suit trousers from wearing out between the thighs!

viama — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 04:35:05 -0800

How do I stop my suit trousers wearing out so quickly? The area between thighs always seems to pill up and eventually wear out, especially on pure wool suits. My thighs are a bit on the large side, I'll admit. Blended fabrics seem to fare much better.

Fabric orders

armoured-ant — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 12:00:46 -0800

How i would go about getting fabric (for clothing) straight from the manufacturer, in bulk quantities, rather than having to pay retail prices? I'm in the UK.