Calico

Your Guide To Calico Fabric

One of the fabrics you may encounter as a crafter is calico fabric. Naturally, not everyone is familiar with this kind of fabric and its properties, so you might have to do some research into calico before you implement it in any project. So, let us take a closer look at calico and how it can be used in crafts.

What Is Calico Fabric?

Even though you may believe you have never heard about calico fabric before, it is actually a lot more common than you think. Calico fabric is commonly used in curtains, pillow cases, upholstery, and even handbags. It is also a common material for painter's canvas, so there are certainly loads of applications for it.

What Kind Of Material Is Calico And How Is It Made?

Calico fabric consists of a plain weave. It contains a blend of semi-processed and unbleached cotton fibres, producing a fabric that has a rather rough and coarse exterior. The unique consistency of calico makes the fabric a lot sturdier than other cotton blends, yet it is not as strong as proper denim fabrics or canvas.

One of the major benefits of calico fabrics is that they are extremely affordable. When you buy this material, it is often in its raw state, this means it has not been dyed or processed further. Naturally, working with such a raw material provides you with a lot of creative crafting options.

How Can I Use Calico Fabric In Crafts?

We briefly covered the applications of calico already, but this material is so wonderfully versatile, they can be used for a whole lot more than what we described already.

One of the most popular applications for calico fabric is mock-up garment creation. When you design some garments, you can use the more affordable calico fabric to test your garment construction and its overall design. Of course, it also allows for alterations when you need to make some.

Calico is not only suitable for mock-ups though, it can be used as a crafting material for all sorts of carry bags, kitchen aprons, and even some furnishings. Since calico is relatively strong, the fabric is recommended for items that could encounter a considerable amount of daily use as well as wear and tear.

Are There Other Variations Of Cotton Like Calico?

As we mentioned earlier, calico is nothing more than cotton fibres manufactured into a fabric by a specific production process. Now, calico falls under the category of the half-processed cotton materials, which means it is in the same family as muslin, gauze, canvas, and cheesecloth.

Muslin is a plain-woven fabric made from unbleached cotton fibres and quite similar to calico. It is often used for interlining and for sewing mock-up garments. It is also relatively inexpensive, which makes it another good choice for those design tests.

How Do I Maintain Calico Fabric?

Anything made from calico fabric will be incredibly durable, so you can easily machine wash this kind of fabric. Simply put it on a 60-degree Celsius cycle. To ensure the material retains its shape, you can also iron it while it is mildly damp.

Please note that not all half-processed cotton materials can be washed in the washing machine. A good example is cheesecloth, which is loosely woven with a plain weave. While this type of half-processed cotton does have a similar rough finish, it must be washed by hand, this due to the fact its weave is considerably looser than that of calico.

Can I Get Calico Fabric At Spotlight?

Spotlight provides you with an incredible range of calico fabric, this ranges from seeded calico fabric to unbleached and heavy weight calico. So, whichever calico fabric you are looking for, we can provide you it in the form of bolts or fabric by the metre.

Please note that Spotlight offers a lot of other fabrics too. In fact, we provide one of the largest fabric ranges in New Zealand. We provide cotton, linen, wool, and so much more. So, whether you are sewing your own garments, curtains, or even starting with quilting, there are plenty of fabrics that will meet your requirements. Check out our extensive catalogue today and benefit from our discount prices on fabric.