What Is? Calico, Toile, Muslin (Sample Garment)

- Hello, I'm Aneka from Made to Sew,

and welcome to my What Is tutorial.

In this What Is tutorial,

I'm going to be discussing
sowing terminology

for the following words,

calico, calico toile, toile, and muslin.

And they all mean the same thing.

It just depends where
in the world you live

what words are generally used.

They all mean a sample garment,

just like you see on my mannequin here.

So why those words?

Well, the words actually refer

to the fabric most commonly used.

So the French word for
toile actually means canvas

or a linen cloth.

In the U.K., the fabric
is normally called calico.

This is a 100% cotton fabric.

This is the unbleached variety,

but you can buy a bleach variety.

And it's a very stable woven fabric.

In America or the U.S.,

the word muslin is used instead of calico.

Now, why do you need to
make a sample garment?

There are a number of reasons

you should make a sample garment.

I would make a sample garment

if I was making a pattern from
scratch, like I've done here,

or if I was working from
another dressmaking pattern

that I'd bought in the shop.

And there are a number of reasons

that I would make my sample garment.

The first one is to check the fit.

Especially if you're working

from a dress making pattern
that you've bought in the shop,

you won't necessarily be the
same size as the original block

that the dressmaking
pattern was created from.

Therefore, you may need to change

some of the width measurements
or the length measurements

to fit your individual figure.

So you want to check that
in your sample garments.

You also want to check

that you actually like what you've made.

I think, as dressmakers, we
can be quite hard on ourselves

because we pick up a pattern,

we think it looks nice and
that we could make that,

we make it and we expect to love it.

However, how many times have
you been into the high street

expected to like something, tried it on,

and actually hated it
because it didn't suit you?

So by making a sample garment,

you can check that you
actually liked the style

that it suits you and
your individual shape.

And finally, I like to
actually construct garments

before making them in the real fabric.

It allows me to think whether
I like the instructions

that have come with
the dressmaking pattern

or whether I want to change
the order of construction

because based on the fabric
that I'm working with,

I might want to change
the order of something

or do a technique in a different way.

So when you are making
your sample garment,

you don't actually need to
create all of the pattern pieces.

I generally wouldn't
bother with your lining

and with your facing pieces,

or with things like pockets,

unless you really want
to check their location

and their size on your figure.

Now in terms of the order of construction,

I pretty much would always create

whether it was a dress atop
a jacket without sleeves,

and I would fit it without sleeves first.

It would then allow me to make any changes

to the shell of the garment.

And then I could cut out
new sleeves, if I needed to,

and if I needed to amend them at all

before putting them into the garment

and checking those in my sample garment.

The same goes to things like collars.

If you haven't made any
changes to the neckline,

you don't really need
to put the collar on,

unless you want to see
the size on your figure.

So it's all about what works for you

and what you want to check

in the garment that you are making.

As an example,

this is probably about
sample garment number four

for this pattern.

It's the same as the
jacket I'm wearing here.

Now, I drafted this from scratch.

So when I'm making a
sample garment of this,

I'll be checking, not only the fit,

but also whether I like
the style and the design.

You can see, because this
is the final garments,

that actually I have positioned in

a facing and a lining.

That was for me to check that I was happy

with how it all went together.

The construction was perfect.

And so when it comes to
drafting your own garments,

you may find that you need to make

a number of sample garments or prototypes.

The number that you need to make

just depends on the garment.

Some work better than others.

Sometimes you need to
make more sample garments,

sometimes you can get away with less.

The one thing you will notice here

is that the fabric I've used for my lining

is different to the calico fabric

that I've used for the
exterior of the garment.

And the reason I've done this

is 'cause I wanted to use a fabric

that would be more similar
to the lining fabric.

So this is a really cheap polyester

that I've used for my lining.

Now, this is where it's important.

You need to make sure

that the fabric you make
up your sample garment in

is very similar to the fabric
you're going to make up

your real garment in.

Calico and muslin come in
lots of different weights,

so you can purchase the right
weight for your final garment.

However, if you are not making
a garment in a woven fabric,

perhaps your final garment's
going to be in a drapey fabric,

you need to make sure that
you make your sample garment

in a similar drapey fabric.

If your final garment is going to be made

from a stretch fabric
and knit or a jersey,

you need to make your sample garment

in the same style of fabric.

It needs to have the
same amount of stretch

as your final fabric.

And that's really important.

Otherwise, the fitting and design details

that you check at this stage

might be incorrect when you get
them into your final fabric.

You can also consider
making a working toile,

or working calico,

which you will hear
some people talk about.

That's when you use a fabric
that you don't dislike.

It's not calico, like this,

which means that you have
the ability to wear it

if it is correct on completion.

So you fit your sample garment.

If you're happy with it, if it fits,

even if it's not perfect,

you might find you can get
away wearing it outside.

It might just become house bound

or for the gardening
or something like that,

but it means that it's not going to waste.

It really depends on what you
want to use your garment for.

You'll also see that
I've put some markings

on the sleeve here.

That's because I was looking
at quilting my final garment.

So I wanted to see how it would look

on my sample garment first.

And I've often used sample garments

for planning the pattern matching

that I'm going to have on
my final garment as well.

The key things to take away from here

is that I would really recommend

you put the time and effort
into making a sample garment.

Although it seems like it's more time

and more effort than perhaps you want.

We all want to get onto
sewing the real thing

and to having something
new in our wardrobe,

but it will make the creation

of your final garment more successful.

It'll fit better, you'll be happy with it,

and you'll probably understand

the construction of it better as well.

So it will sew together better.

Make your sample garment

in a fabric similar to
your final garments,

and don't worry about
the nitty gritty details,

so your lining, your facings.

You don't need to hem it.

You can just fold it
up, like I've done here.

I really hope this short
tutorial has helped you

and that you understand
what a calico toile, toile,

or muslin is now.

Thanks for watching and see you soon.