Suede

Yesterday was another 16 hour day, but I did manage to sneak out at lunchtime for about 40 minutes (emails and voicemails piling up all the while) and run down to the Fabric Outlet to get the interfacing and some suede.  (I asked if they had Ultrasuede – they didn’t have it in black, alas.)  I got a very nice deerhide suede for a bit over $30 (!), jet black, sensuously soft (but thick enough to make a good collar), absolutely wonderful!

So I took that and spent about fifteen minutes this morning comparing it to the other option I was wondering about, silk satin. I have some heavyweight bridal satin remnants that I bought from Exotic Silks down in Los Altos, which are (of course) white but which I could dye black if needed.  I had thought that I would have to dye it black and then compare, but then I realized (in a burst of inspiration) that I had bought 7 yards of black silk charmeuse.  Charmeuse is not bridal satin, but it has much of the same glossy finish and would give me a good general idea.

So I put the glossy silk up against  the fabric, then the matte black leather, and thought about it.  I really couldn’t decide; the effects were so different that it was hard to compare.  But after about ten minutes of “living with” both concepts, I decided I liked the leather better.  The silk, being glossy, wasn’t quite as matte black as I wanted; also, it drew the eye, and I wanted the focus on the handwoven fabric, not the commercial-fabric collar.  The suede produced a wonderfully dramatic contrast between the red of the silk and the jet black of the suede, but didn’t draw attention to itself in the same way as the silk.  I took a snapshot of the leather against the silk:

I think it’s pretty nice.  I’d still like to see ultrasuede, and maybe a conventional black boiled wool, though I’m not sure where to find either.  I don’t know if Joann’s fabric carries it, and while I’m sure that Britex does, they probably charge $130/yd for it.  (Britex is having a 30% off sale on Monday, but then it would merely be astronomically priced, instead of gasping-for-breath pricey.)  Today I am VERY unlikely to have any spare time (my project releases tomorrow), but I’m hoping to make it to Joann’s on Saturday to see if they have Ultrasuede to compare.

I will, of course, soon have to put most of the work on hold to prep for Moving Day, but I do intend to do a little bit of work every day nonetheless.  Far from being a drain on my time, it’s the only thing keeping me sane.  🙂