Today, for #safranseptember, we’re going to talk about fabric!

To make the Safran pants, you will need a woven fabric, medium weight (6oz/yd² minimum), with 20% to 30% stretch. The stretch factor is really important, as it ensures you will be able to put on your pants, bend your knees, sit down, and do all kinds of other useful activities 😉

To have enough stretch and recovery, the fabric needs include lycra/spandex in its composition. Unfortunately, the stretch factor of a fabric depends of a variety of parameters: weave, composition, thickness… and the spandex percentage is not proportional to the stretch factor (we have found fabrics with 25% stretch that only have 1.4% spandex, and others having 4% spandex with only 10% stretch).

If you already have stash fabric that might be suitable for Safran, or you want to buy some in a shop, here is how to measure its stretch percentage:

Measuring the stretch percentage

At home

Cut out a rectangle of fabric that is 10cm (or 4″) wide in the direction of stretch, and at least 5cm (or 2″) high. Hold both ends firmly, stretch the swatch as much as possible, and measure its new width: it should stretch by 2 to 3cm, or 7/8″ (10cm x 20 / 100 = 2cm).

In a store

Obviously, you can’t just cut out your own swatch in a store! Bring a ruler with you, and pinch the fabric between your thumbs and index fingers, placing your thumbs 10cm (or 4″) apart in the direction of stretch. Keeping hold of the fabric, spread your hands as much as possible and measure the new distance between your thumbs.
This method will give you a good idea of the stretch percentage of your fabric, but keep in mind that the swatch method is more accurate 🙂

Buy fabric online

If you can’t find the right fabric locally, you might be tempted to buy it online. Unfortunately, as we have seen, it is not possible to use fabric composition to evaluate the stretch percentage! Most online stores do not indicate the stretch percentage (or get it mixed up with spandex percentage), so we have done some research and put out a call to online stores to create this list of tried and true fabrics!

All the fabrics in this list have been tested either by us, by the sellers we have contacted, or by our customers. If you run into a problem with one of them, please let us know so that we can update the list!

North American Stores

Stonemountain&Daughters

• Telio Allegro Stretch Denim in Blue, Black, and Ash (30% stretch)
• Telio Atwell Stretch Denim Black (25% stretch)
• Telio Bondi Stretch Denim White (20% stretch)
• 10oz Black Stretch Denim (20% stretch)

Fabric.com

• Kaufman Super Stretch Denim 8.6 oz Indigo (25% stretch)
• Telio Atwell Stretch Denim in 4 colors (25% stretch)
• Telio Bondi Stretch Denim in 2 colors (20% stretch)

Mood

• Italian Monument Gray Stretch Cotton Twill (20% stretch)
• Tanya Taylor Navy Stretch Cotton Twill (30% stretch)
• Charcoal Stretch Cotton Twill (30% stretch)

Others

• Kaufman Black Stretch Denim 10 oz, Fancy Tiger Crafts (25% stretch)
• Royal Blue Heavy Twill, Modern Domestic (30% stretch)

European Stores

Little Fabrics

• Raw Cotton-Polyamide Denim (30% stretch)
• Raw Stretch Denim (20% stretch)
• Black Stretch Denim (25% stretch)
• Black Milano Twill (30% stretch)
• Peach Skin Gabardine in Taupe and Black (20% stretch)

Tissus.net

• Black stretch twill (+20% stretch)
• Floral twill 1 (+20% stretch – careful! stretch along the grainline)
• Floral twill 2 (+20% stretch – careful! stretch along the grainline)
• Floral twill 3 (+20% stretch – careful! stretch along the grainline)
• Beige stretch twill (30% stretch)

Mondial Tissus

• Stretch Jeans Fabric in 7 colors (+20% stretch)
• Printed Jeans Fabric: Polka dots, Floral, and Stars (+20% stretch)
• Stretch Cotton Twill in 9 colors (+20% stretch)
• Stretch Pleather in 6 colors (+20% stretch)

Others

• Flexdenim 1083, organic cotton, made in France (20-30% stretch)
• Raw Blue Denim Insignia (25% stretch)
• Raw Stretch Denim Les Coupons de Saint Pierre (20% stretch)
• Burgundy Gabardine Tissu Story (20% stretch)
• Navy Cotton Sateen Butinette (+20% stretch)
• Printed Stretch Cotton Delphine ou Karine, Aniline (20% stretch)
• Stretch twill Mamzelle Fourmi in 9 colors (25% stretch)

In an upcoming post, we’ll be talking about what notions you will need for Safran, and where to find them!