Most of the materials featured are suitable for dressmaking, needlecrafts, dyeing, batik and interior design. The silk, satin and velvet fabrics will appeal to the Wedding dress maker as they are available in varying weights and differ in their light relectiveness. They can also be dyed easily with the Acid Dyes to fit in with the Bride's chosen colour scheme.

The cotton materials also come in a range of weights; the Prima and Primissima offering a high quality material for dressmaking, batik work and fabric painting. These fabrics can also be dyed easily using the Fibre Reactive Procion MX Dyes.

Any of the fabrics below can be treated with Bubble Jet Set 2000 before printing on with an inkjet printer. There is also a range of pre-treated fabrics for computer printing. The fabrics can be decorated with digital photographs and computer generated images.

Silk Fabric

We offer a range of undyed 100% silk fabrics and silk mix fabrics. The lightest silk fabric is Gauze Chiffon 3.5mm and the heaviest is Noil Poplin 36mm. There is a silk based Velvet with viscose pile, which lends itself well to devore as does the silk/viscose Satin. Silco is a 57% silk and 43% cotton fabric.

The material is sold by the metre and there are also a range of ready-hemmed scarves, ties and cushion covers.

The weight, and therefore thickness, of silk fabrics is classified by the Chinese system of mommes, pronounced mummy, and normally shortened to 'mm'. The metric equivalent of 1mm is 4.3grams per square metre. A small Pongee scarf, 28cm by 28cm (10in by 10in) weighs just under 13gm.

The complete range of Arty's Silks by the metre and the full range of made up items are available through Fibrecrafts (click here for catalogue). These include ready-made items for wear and use around the home. There are a multitude of fabrics with pre-printed gutta patterns for decoration with silk paints and acid dyes.

The print-on, paper backed silk can be used with images from scanned photos, digital cameras, web pages, clip art, paint and draw programs and photo CDs. The prints are hand washable, very light fast and retain suppleness.

Learn more about silk and how to colour it

Dischargeable Black Fabrics

These black dyed fabrics can be used readily for printing with discharge paste. The discharge paste can be combined with Illuminating Acid dye which replaces the dischargeable black dye. There is a choice of silk/viscose Velvet, Silk Gauze Chiffon and Silk Habotai 8mm.

Learn more about discharge printing & dyeing

Cotton Fabric

The cotton material for Batik work requires a good finish, needs to be reasonably pliable and be able to accept the resist in order to prevent dye penetration. The Bleached Cotton, which is available in two widths, the Javanese Primissima and the Javanese Prima all meet this requirement.

We recommend both the Primissima and Prima material for more detailed Batik work and fabric painting as they are more finely woven and provide a smooth surface on which to decorate.

An alternative to cotton fabric is Silco which is a finely woven combination of 57% silk and 43% cotton.

All the cotton fabrics respond well to Fibre Reactive Procion MX Dyes.

The print-on, paper backed cotton can be used with images from scanned photos, digital cameras, web pages, clip art, paint and draw programs and photo CDs. The prints are hand washable, very light fast and retain suppleness.

Polyester

This 112cm wide, light weight silky polyester material is ideal for 3-dimensional shibori. Tie marbles, walnut shells, rice etc into the fabric to create a shape which will be retained once the polyester has been heated in an oven at 200/220°C for 20-30 minutes. The fabric can be easily coloured with Fibrecrafts or Deka Heat Transfer Paints or Fibrecrafts Disperse Acid Dyes see more...

Stainless Steel and Bronze Fabrics

Exciting and versatile fabrics, the fine 400 mesh stainless steel and bronze material is easily manipulated by folding or pleating. They are ideal for millinery, lampshade making, 3-dimensional embroidery and textile art work. They can also be readily coloured with a blow torch to give golds and blues. Use in jewellery making and combine with other etched or discharged fabrics to good effect.

They have a wonderful sheen which is accentuated when folded. It is sold per ½ metre length and is 100cm wide.