One question we see in our inbox LOTS, is what we would recommend as the best fabric to use for activewear patterns and where to find it! We recently sent a list of some performance fabric suppliers to our newsletter subscribers as part of our Pattern of the Month series and had such a great response…we’ve decided to do a full blog post as well!
Remember, if you know of any stores that have great moisture wicking activewear fabric, be sure to leave a comment below!
// Important things to keep in mind when choosing performance fabric //
There are a few key factors you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing your Virginia leggings fabric. Just to make sure it’s comfortable and that it withstands all the running, stretching, jumping and sweating you’ll be doing!
The most important thing is it must have AT LEAST 40% stretch. The pattern has negative ease so it’s important to choose fabrics with the appropriate amount of stretch to get the right fit. Take a look at our post on stretch percentage for some handy hints. If you can’t make your way in person to the fabric store, see if you can order a swatch first just to make sure it has the right stretch percentage.
You might also like to check the fabric has some moisture wicking properties to allow the fabric to breathe and wick the sweat away.
And our final little tip…make sure it’s not see-through!!! Good quality, opaque fabric will mean you’ll be able to stretch and bend to your hearts content without it being stretched too thin.
You’ll find the best activewear fabrics are synthetic, but they really do make a big difference to the comfort level and the durability of the fabric. When searching for fabrics, focus on the below keywords and you’ll find some great options!
- Lycra
- Supplex Lycra
- Spandex
- Compression-Spandex
- Moisture wicking Spandex
// Suppliers //
Australia | NZ
US | Canada
- Mood Fabrics: Compression, Tech Fabrics
- Fabric.com
- Spandex By The Yard: Retail & Wholesale
- Peak Fabrics
- Spandexhouse Large range of Supplex
- Fabricmart
- Zenith & Quasar Huge range of Supplex
UK
- Sew Me Sunshine
- UK Fabrics
- Funki Fabrics / Great selection of Supplex, Meryl & Compression option
If you know of any other amazing suppliers of activewear fabrics be sure to let us know in the comments below!!
Don’t have the Virginia sewing pattern yet?! Order Virginia today! We absolutely love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNvirginia and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!
There are a number of sellers in Canada that do sell activewear fabrics – Closet Case Files (Heather Lou is in Montreal, Canada) has just posted a list of great fabric shops https://closetcasepatterns.com/blog/ including Canada & the US. It’s the best list I’ve seen yet :)
Please always state if a supplier is Canadian or US. As a Canadian, I have been charged taxes and duties for purchases from US companies for as much as 1/2 the value of my purchase. Plus the Canadian dollar is only worth .75 US. I no longer purchase from US suppliers. Not the supplier’s fault. Also, we have some great Canadian suppliers.
Thanks
In the US: Phee Fabrics, So Sew English, Joanns all carry a large amount of athletic fabric options.
If only there were more options in the UK where I’m bases, everything is mainly just swim fabric here unfortunately.
You can find Polartec brand fabric (amazing technical fabric in fleece and more) at Mill Yardage, an online fabric shop in the US. I like Power Stretch for cold weather. Discovery Trekking Outfitters in Canada also sells their excess technical fabric online, although you have to dig around on their site a little.
There is a German online shop called Extremtextil (website has an English version, too) with quite a decent choice of athletic knits. Their main focus is outdoor fabrics, including stuff for tent making, backpacks, etc, but I’ve bought lovely fine jerseys from them, with merino wool, too. Their customer service is very friendly, and I’m sure they deliver to other countries, too.