As for pictures, if I'm not using my own work, I seek photos under free public licenses.  In today's post, however, I use one photo without permission (because I have no idea how to get permission).  But then I mangle it beyond recognition in the pursuit of design, so I'm not sure where copyright law falls on that one!  Nevertheless, I still do my best to credit the originator and link back. 

Now that I quilt, I see quilt patterns everywhere. Like in the pebble-mosaic walkways of the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon!  Incidentally, that garden is beautiful, but in the interest of isolating patterns for blogging, I took some very boring pictures of it when I visited on November 15th, this year. 

If your pattern calls for "gabardine" fabric, what is it, exactly, that you need?  When we talk about fabrics, we usually describe them by fiber, fabrication (weave, knit, felt?), and finish.  We don't always use these in a predictable order, though.  For example:

sueded silk charmeuse (FINISH/FIBER/WEAVE)
wool flannel (FIBER/FINISH)
cotton twill (FIBER/WEAVE)
cotton/spandex jersey (FIBER/FIBER/KNIT)
polyester crinkle chiffon (FIBER/FINISH/WEAVE)

The term "gabardine" is a little slippery, though, since it can encompass both fiber and fabrication. 

Today, I want to talk about ikat fabric, because I find it fascinating.  Ikat (say "EEE-kat") is a yarn-dyed fabric where the yarns are selectively resist dyed before weaving, and the pattern emerges once woven.  Some pictures in this post are from Wikimedia Commons (click to see their sourcepages).  The ones that don't go to Wikimedia Commons are my own pictures. 

When people go to a fabric store and ask for "raw silk", or tell you their wedding dress was made of "raw silk"... what do they mean?  What is raw silk? 

There is plenty of confusion about the topic, with common use of the term being very different from technical use in sericulture.  I'll start with the technical definition, because it's most precise, then move on to the more popular conceptions and give you better terms for them, so you can find what you want at fabric stores or online!

The first time I heard "galloon" I though it was a pirate thing... it sounds like doubloon or galleon or maroon!  Arr, matey!  But actually, galloon is a textile term.  Wikipedia's stub of an article about it simply says it's a woven or braided trim, and gives as an example the gold trim sewn all over 1700's style liveries.  Merriam Webster gets closer to the word as I've heard it used, specifying that the narrow trim has both edges scalloped.  Do an image search to see the different shades of meaning: "galloon trim" yields a mix of narrow metallic trims and lace trims, while "galloon lace" yields lace trims with scalloped edges.  Today, I'll try to delineate these different uses and meanings of galloon.