Thread: Help choosing accent fabric

I'm actually going to try to make a costume myself (gulp!). I found this great fabric on ebay, and I just love it. Here's a pic of it on one of the bra cups. It's a purple-y animal print with a lavendar/magenta background, and it has a silver sheen throughout the fabric.



I'm keeping it simple and just making a 3-panel straight skirt. For the 2 slits, I want to sew in some mesh. I'd also use the fabric for arm thingies and *maybe* a belly cover if I can figure that one out. Here are my 2 choices:

A sparkly lavendar tie-dye mesh that would really blend well with the background of the fabric


or a shiny magenta animal print mesh that would be a bit more pink than my actual fabric


What do you gals think? Which one should I choose, or do you have any other ideas?

Thanks for your input :)

...forgot to add that I plan on using crystal AB accents with purple and magenta beading.

Could you post pics of the bra cup on the two fabric choices? It's hard to tell how they'll look together from separate pictures.

Torbeau has a great suggestion about photographing the bra cup on top of the other fabrics. I tend to go for a complimentary type of contrasting fabric when I do an accent like you're talking about. I'd be more apt to go with a darker purple that matches the beading you plan on doing? Or, a darker magenta?

I don't have photoshop. The best I can do is hold the fabric up to my screen. I suppose I could print out the pics and lay them over the fabric. hmmm....

About darker purples, how about this?



or this?



I was hoping to get something that would blend instead of contrast to make it more of a 'dress' look if I succeed with the belly cover.

I'm hopeless with colors, but where the heck are you finding that great mesh online? I want some! :)

Can you get samples of the fabric from the websites you are looking at?

I like the very dark purple that appears to be resting on in the original pic. I like a contrast between matt and shiny.

Originally Posted by lilya

I'm hopeless with colors, but where the heck are you finding that great mesh online? I want some! :)

the animal print mesh and metallic mesh are from Stretch House, Inc. ... the other 2 are from Spandex World Inc. spandex fabric, lycra stretch fabric

Yeah, I should probably get samples and just pay for the extra international shipping costs for them.... the problem is, little bits of fabric can't really help me imagine the whole picture.

Hubby likes me better in dresses, this is why I was leaning towards the first 2 options, to make it blend with the fabric, not contrast. If I do a dark purple for the tummy cover, i don't think I could pull off the dress look.

I don't have Photoshop either, but I made a crude hack on my computer using MS Paint. (I used the outline tool to trace around the bra cup, copied it, and then pasted that image without background on top of the pictures of the fabric samples.) It's very hard to tell what's going on without control over consistent lighting on the pictures, but from what I did, I think I actually like the lavender tie-dye mesh the best. The darker purples are too much contrast, especially if you are looking for a unifying "dress" effect. The magenta animal-print mesh was too bright, and the metallic sample you uploaded last was too cool. (That last metallic looked almost like it had olive green in it when put next to the bra.)

The bra picture seems to have a lot of warm undertones to it on my monitor--the background is close to coral, and the design itself looks almost puce, and that isn't what you're describing from seeing it in person, so I'm at a disadvantage. I do feel confident in saying that I think it would make more sense for you to try to match to the background color (whatever it is) than to the foreground, if you're hoping to create a look where the bra flows into the dress instead of visually popping off it. Maybe try heading down to the local fabric store with the bra and holding it against mid-value pinks and lavenders to see what looks best? I wouldn't even worry if the fabrics are quilting cottons at this point--it would just be an exercise of having everything in same room together under the same lighting conditions to get a better idea.

Thanks, Tourbeau! You are so awesome to have done all that work!!!

I have trouble with computer applications that I'm unfamiliar with since hubby's stuff is all in German.... and I'm not quite German proficient enough to navigate through them.

About local fabric stores... I'm hoping to go to one sometime this week. I *finally* found one that's in the same town where we live, lol.

I've heard about dutch fabric markets in Germany, maybe there is one in your area? Sounds very interesting...

Stoffmarkt Holland
Expo-Concept

If you're looking for it to look like a dress, then I agree with Tourbeau that the lavendar tie dye mesh is the best match. Can't wait to see your progress on this one.

dark purple mesh!!!

Thanks for the input, everyone! I'm going to go with the lavendar tie-dye for now. We'll see how it goes, and if I feel like it needs the purple mesh.... I can always take it apart and put it back together, right? (that's a serious question, btw... lol)

Originally Posted by SabuaSabua

I've heard about dutch fabric markets in Germany, maybe there is one in your area? Sounds very interesting...

Stoffmarkt Holland
Expo-Concept

Thanks for the tip, Sabua!

I went to the local fabric store, and was really disappointed. They really didn't have a selection of stretch fabrics available. I brought my animal fabric with me, and it definitely looks better with the pink-toned purples rather than the blue-toned ones....

Major disappointment- after I ordered the lavender tie-dye, I received an email stating that they were out of stock on that fabric. *sigh* ... so I'm doing another search to find the right color shades.

I found something in stretch lace, but I really don't think it would work well with my fabric....

That sucks. I am almost always disappointed when i go to fabric stores looking for something in particular...

When I was doing resarch for that project we talked about, I found this site. They're in Canada...
Pink Sequin Flowers | Ann's Fabric Shop


Orchid Flowers & Loops | Ann's Fabric Shop


Fuchsia | Ann's Fabric Shop

Dinah, try both Spandexhouse.com and Spandexworld.com. They've got a boatload of stretch fabric (overwhelming, really) and they ship worldwide.

Hi Shahla, thanks for the tip.

it was spandex world that I tried to order from. And get this, I found a replacement for it, and they didn't have that one in stock, either! .... what a way to do business.

i've been bleeding my eyes out trying to find another fabric, and have checked at spandex house, too.

You might contact Sew Sassy Lingerie Fabrics, Bra Supplies, Lycra® - Sew Sassy Fabrics and ask what they have in their inventory. I'm pretty sure they have more than what's on their web site, and they do international shipping, too.

This lady has a lot of great stuff....especially if you are looking for prints. Fasbric Depot Home

Thanks for your suggestions, Andalee. I'm actually wanting a mesh fabric that will blend in with the background of my animal print fabric.

I requested some samples. Hopefully, I'll get them and find one that'll really work for me. :)

What about buying white mesh and dyeing it to match?