The Hunt for Reflective Fabric

Hunting for reflective fabric has turned into a bit of a obsession. It wouldn’t be so, possibly, if it was easier to find, however! So when I see things, I tend to jump immediately, cost be damned! Recent example – Stonemountain and Daughter, a fabric store in Berkeley that I actually haunted while in high school and college, recently shared a photo on Instagram of some reflective trim. I’ve never seen aurora reflective anything before, so I called the store when I got home from work and ordered some! At $8 a yard, I didn’t buy much; I’m sure that once the shimmery package arrives, I will regret that!

Seriously, how could I resist this?!

I do get asked where I find reflective fabric, so I thought I’d try to encapsulate all my finds.

Reflective Ribbon

It all started in 2012, with Dritz iron-on reflective grosgrain ribbon, purchased at JoAnn Fabrics. It’s harder to find now, as is the Dritz reflective piping, which is apparently no longer made. Shortly thereafter, I found sew-in reflective ribbon in a notions store in New York City. I think it was Pacific Trimming, on West 38th Street, but I’m not positive.

Reflective Fabric

This is the biggie, the goal of everyone – fabric that is reflective. It’s amazing, and I love having so much made with reflective fabric, but it is difficult to find, expensive when you do, and then not easy to sew with or wear.

Most of it I have purchased at B&J Fabrics, in New York. I found the gold in 2012, went back in 2013 for plum and lavender, and then bought some orange in 2014. I wish I had more of the plum! A B&J employee told me that they used to carry blue reflective fabric – oh how I wish they still did! But at $54 a yards, I know the store wouldn’t special order a roll just so I could buy a few yards. (B&J does have a reflective fabric on their website, for $69.95 a yard, but not with a good photo.)

I also purchased a yard of silver reflective fabric at Britex Fabrics, in San Francisco. That too was about $50 a yard, and a friend who was recently in the store reported that they no longer carry it. Gah!

Reflective fabric, top, along with some gray velour I also purchased at Britex

Fellow bicyclist and sewing blogger Oanh at Unique Schmuck hooked me up with some other fabrics. She reached out to the people at King Tech Fabrics and they agreed to sell her some remnants of their super cool reflective fabric. This stuff wasn’t as expensive, it’s much more fun, and far easier to sew, although not ideal. I haven’t checked in to see if they will do that again. In the meantime, I’m getting stingier about what I do with it. No more big pieces, but trims and bias instead. Not as fun, but….

I purchased this reflective camo fabric with the intention of creating miles and miles of bias tape, to substitute for the reflective piping that is hard to find and difficult to sew. It’s also relatively inexpensive at $8.99 a yard, so I bought several yards. I’ve used it in several projects, but it’s not as brilliant as a bias as the other materials. Next up, a coat with this on the cuffs. Maybe that will look better. Other Reflective Stuff

I’ve purchased but not really used some other stuff, like this fun reflective yarn from LFlect. I don’t knit and I’m sort of at a loss for ideas. but hey, I’ve got it, so when inspiration hits, I’m set! I had some reflective rickrack that I found in JoAnn’s a while back, and used on the hem of a skirt. I received a bundle of reflective trims thanks to Australian sewing blogger Susan at Measure Twice Cut Once. (What is it with awesome Australian bloggers?!??! You guys are forever my heroes and I’m in your debt!!!) And I had some reflective embroidery floss once, for a failed attempt to make tassels.

 

So as you can see, the hunt for reflective materials is a hodge-podge of luck, location, internet searches, and swell Aussie bloggers. I haven’t exhausted my possibilities, since Dashing Tweed has some gorgeous reflective tweeds, but they are a bit out of my price range for now. Maybe that will be this year’s splurge?

If you know of sources to find reflective fabric, please share! I’ve got a Pinterest board dedicated to reflective stuff, and would love to add more to the collection.

ICYMI: February Short and Sewing

February is always a shockingly short month, even though we all know it’s just a few days shorter than the rest. How do those two missing days make the month seem so short?!

Some of the other things going on this month include cutting up my wedding dress, needing new sewing labels and of course reflective sewing projects!

Wedding Dress Project

I really love my wedding dress and am sad to not get to ever wear it again. So I decided that I’d turn it into a midi skirt. I love the soft floral print, and it’s full enough to make a lovely Spring or Easter skirt. Last week I took it into work to use the fabulous work table as my cutting table one last time. (The office is about to be remodeled, so good bye to the best office amenity ever!) I have to confess that cutting into the floral print chiffon was not easy! I was surprised at how emotional it made me. But I want the chance to wear it again, so I have nothing to lose from trying this. So cut away I did.

Sad to say goodbye to this table.

The first cut, ulp!

Lots of leftover fabric.

Now all it needs is a waistband and a hem!

The plan is to add an elastic waistband – not elegant, but this way I don’t have to put a zipper into this slippery fabric – and hem it, and that’s all it needs! I’m a bit worried about hemming this stuff but friends have been coaching me long distance, so I’ll try it on the scraps first. My goal is to have this done before Easter, when we go to Palm Springs for a friend’s wedding. I’m not sure what I’ll wear it with, although I think the lovely pink Clarks Hotel Bustle fishermans sandals with (reflective?) ankle socks would be an adorable casual touch.

Sewing Labels

I suddenly realized that I’m almost out of sewing labels! This isn’t that big of a deal, because I’d like new ones anyway. I’m ready to move beyond my “Half-Assed Originals” ones that I have had for probably a decade or more. I got those back in the day because that’s the way I felt my sewing was, half-assed, because I was too busy just trying to get things done, rather than done well. Now I want things done well, and I’d really like the labels to say “Tin Lizzie.” The sticking point is that I’d love an image but I don’t know what kind of image. I like the idea of a bunny on a bike, but I don’t really want a bike. Maybe just a symbol, or just my ankle tattoo, or a really fancy E initial. I just don’t know. Anyone know a graphics person who would be willing to create something for me?

Time for a new design!

Reflective, of course!

I have loved the reflective designs on the LFlect website for a while now, probably since I first started experimenting with reflective materials. I’ve never ordered anything because it’s a bit pricey, being British and that exchange rate and shipping and all, but I was weak when I saw their new reflective “yarn” wrapped on hearts, just in time for Valentine’s Day. I wouldn’t call it yarn, exactly, because it is indeed a bit chunky and sort of like strips of knit with reflective striping. I have no idea what I’ll do with this, but I’m sure something will come to me eventually.

I am also working on the bomber jacket I want to wear to the National Women’s Bike Forum, which I realize is only a week away! I’m pretty excited about how it looks so far.

Left side without the flash, right side with the flash.

Milestone

I realized that February 28th was my bike’s 3 year birthday! It’s really been three years since The Mechanic converted his beater bike into my beloved Little Lord Fauntleroy! Fauntleroy has matured since then, with his Danish front basket, Swedish skirt guard, leather grips and so on, but there is nothing I’d trade him in for. I still love my bike and look forward to more years of biking around town with Fauntleroy.

Happy Birthday!

It’s also been three years since I’ve been at my current job, and blogging. It’s hard to think that it’s only been that long. I wonder what will happen in the next three years.

Please note: I don’t normally put food or drink on my sewing table, not even water! But it makes a nice picture, nicht war?

 

Let’s Talk #Reflective Fashion

Although I am always happy to talk about reflective bike fashion, a few things converged recently to prompt a post about reflective-ness. A New York Times article, new reflective clips from Bookman, and the Fall time change all mean more ways and reasons to be reflective!

The recent New York Times article, “Go Glam into the Night: For the Bike-to-Work Generation, a Move to Fashionable High Tech Clothing,” explored how bike clothing “grew up” and became “fashionable” by making office-friendly clothing reflective. The article called out a few companies I already adore, like Vespertine NYC and LFlect, others I am familiar with, including Fik:Reflectives and Betabrand, and introduced me to a fun new one, Henrichs (these capes are so adorable! And limited edition pink and glitter reflective ones? Where is my credit card?!).

The Henrichs Cape (Photo courtesy of the Henrichs website)

Women’s fashion sports clothing companies such as Athleta and Lululemon are also adding reflective clothing to their lines. These pieces are made for runners, not cyclists, but there are obvious ways these can crossover. Look at how cool the “Light It Up” reflective skirt from Lululemon is, and the “Scuba Hoodie,” with it’s reflective hood! I love the idea of pulling this skirt over pants or leggings or jeans – not entirely work appropriate, but definitely for biking home from the gym, or a casual evening out. The “In a Flash” sweatshirt I can see wearing to work. Athleta offers a few pairs of running leggings with respectable amounts of reflective trim down the leg, and I can see pulling these on under skirts or dresses to bike home after dark. When we turn our clocks back this weekend, it will be darker earlier, but still not too cold to rule out the skirts, and then these would be perfect.

Lululemon Light It Up Skirt (photo courtesy of Lululemon website)

What I like about these garments is that these designers are finally realizing that gear worn outside, especially in the darker hours, should have a bit more reflectivity than just the token logo on a corner, or on the ankle. Here is an example of what I consider bad reflective trim – this adorable “Cyclocape” from Terry Bicycles has a single line of reflective trim down the center of the back. Although the unbroken line isn’t a bad idea, it doesn’t give any sense of how wide the wearer is, so how much room to give the cyclist, and what if if was covered by a backpack or bag strap?  (Don’t get me wrong, if someone wants to gift this to me, I’d happily test it out!) These black Terry “Metro Crop” pants have reflective trim inside the side slits, so they don’t offer much reflective-ness at all.

Terry Bicycles Cyclocape (photo courtesy of Terry Bicycles website)

Title Nine has a decent collect of clothes with reflective trim, and although this “Slip’n Ride” commuter skirt is another example of questionable print choices, I like that the reflective trim is on the outside hem, right where you want to be visible to a vehicle.  REI’s Novara winter cycling pants have reflective stripes down the entire leg as well – just like my reflective pants!

I love the latest pants I made!

I also point all of this out because Time is “falling back” this weekend, and it will be darker longer. Although I don’t believe that us wearing reflective clothing gives drivers license to NOT pay attention to cyclists (and pedestrians) on the road, I don’t think it hurts to be defensive about what we wear either. I wear a bright red coat partially because it shows up better in headlights than a solid black jacket would – the reflective Vespertine belt I wear with it simply helps.

Red coat, reflective trim on skirt, purse – hugging an owl in Copenhagen

It is easy to add reflective accessories, less expensive, and perhaps a bit more versatile to have something that can be moved from jacket to shirt to skirt, like the Bookman clips or the options from REI. Or there is always another route – Glimling is a Swedish-American company selling Scandinavian style reflectors that can be attached to purses, backpacks, coat zippers, or panniers. I have several and love them. They are so cute on my purses! Elisabeth, the owner, totally gets the importance of reflective-ness, and loves to share this somewhat staggering statistic – 70% of American pedestrian accidents happen after dark, while in Sweden, the number is much lower, 40%. Adults and children alike in that country wear reflectors – we saw them for sale in bookstores and dollar stores and in the airport when The Mechanic and I were in Denmark and Sweden, too. Check out her blog post with visibility tests.

Assorted reflectors on assorted bags – some I bought in Sweden, some are from Glimling

So what am I saying here? Reflective clothing is going fashionable and mainstream for biking and running, yay! Designers are beginning to figure it out, and maybe by next winter, we’ll see even more. If buying reflective blazers and dresses is not your thing, or you can’t afford to (I know, the cool stuff is always so expensive!), consider accessories with a good amount of reflective coverage, and attach reflectors on strategic points.  The least it can do is make you a bit more visible!