The Christmas Sparkle Fabric Guide!

Know Your Sparkles

As connoisseurs of all things shiny know, there is a big difference between something that shines and something that sparkles. If you are choosing Christmas sparkle fabric for your visual merchandising, displays or fashion design you have to ensure the vision is understood by everyone you are working with from the people sourcing the fabric to the people selling the fabric themselves! If you have aver been ever so slightly annoyed if someone says” oh I love your sparkly top” when you know full well its a more of a liquid flat shine then you may well appreciate this blog. Send it to anyone who needs to learn their twinkle from their shine.

samples of coloured glitter fabric

OK, that may have sounded a bit pedantic but knowing the difference is important when describing a fabric to someone and when ordering online. Visual merchandisers, interior designers, set designers, artists and clothing designers should all know the differences, however subtle. When creating anything from scene or a garment you often need to describe your design to someone who wont quite see the difference in their mind, until they see the real thing. Maybe this blog will help.

samples of various holographic lycra fabric
purple glitter gloss leatherette fabric

Terms like sparkle or twinkle refer to materials that catch the light in a multitude of places. The size of the pieces and the direction they face determines the way light reacts with them. The smaller the pieces, the finer the sparkle, so it becomes more of a twinkle. When thousands of tiny facets that all face the same direction, they work together so the fabric can become more of a fluid shine. Whereas when light hits Glitter fabric the multitude of facets face different random directions, creating more of a sparkle to the fabric rather than a pure shine.

Keeping Score

Instead of my in depth descriptions that wander on for miles, I have devised a bullet point guide and a points out of 10 guide to help out anyone choosing their sparkle fabric! This is applied to fabric we sell, but will also help with any shiny fabric you come across in life!

fine silver mesh netting fabric display and Christmas sparkle
pale gold metallic fabric for Christmas displays fashion and merchandising

I have used terms such as ;

  • Metallic
  • Shimmer
  • Sparkle
  • Shine
  • Wow Factor

….to help with understanding the fabric. For a good example I would say Large Display Glitter Fabric has a 10/10 sparkle and the Fine Display Glitter has a 10/10 twinkle. So scroll scroll through and like a top trumps for fabric, compare the scores….

Large Display Glitter Fabric

Christmas colours red green gold white glitter fabric for display
  • Heavy duty use
  • Visual merchandising or dressmaking
  • Large and chunky glitter
  • Glitter one side
  • Interior design
  • Shops, cafes, retail
  • Thick polycotton backing
  • 100% glitter coated
  • Width – 140 cm
  • Price – £18.99 per metre
  • Sparkle 10/10
  • Shine 10/10
  • Wow factor 11/10

Lurex Metallic Mesh

deep gold bronze big chain lurex fabric for fashion display and Christmas
pewter silver large chain lurex fabric for fashion display and Christmas
  • Sheer fabric
  • Clothing
  • Visual merchandising
  • Chain look
  • Same both sides
  • Dark gold and silver colours
  • Stretchy
  • Drapes well
  • Price £4.99 per metre
  • Width – 150 cm
  • Sparkle 7/10
  • Metallic 8/10

All Over Sequin Fabric

lilac silver blue purple and red all over sequin mesh fabric for fashion display Christmas
  • Mesh covered with metallic round sequins
  • Dressmaking or display
  • Timeless style
  • Reasonable stretch
  • Price £6.99 per metre
  • Width – 137 cm
  • Sparkle 10/10
  • Wow factor 9/10
  • Metallic 9/10

Holographic Cyber Streak

holographic cyber streak dotted lines design  on black satin polyester fabric rave wear display hologram silver
holographic cyber streak dotted lines design  on black satin polyester fabric rave wear display hologram silver
  • Printed holographic foil on polyester satin
  • Non stretch
  • Strength of holographic colour display depends on lighting
  • Amazing in sunlight
  • For Clothing or display
  • Set design, visual merchandising
  • Good quality holographic refraction
  • Price – £5.99
  • Width – 111 cm
  • Sparkle 7/10 (because of the black satin)
  • Shine 7/10
  • Wow factor 8/10

Fine Display Glitter

fine red glitter fabric for Christmas displays valentines merchandising glitter walls fashion wear
  • Very fine glitter
  • 100% coverage
  • Glitter one side
  • Classy sparkle
  • Strong polycotton backing
  • A softer sparkle than the large glitter
  • 6 colours available
  • Visual merchandising and display
  • Corsets and cosplay
  • Price – £18.99 per metre
  • Width – 140 cm
  • Twinkle 10/10
  • Shine 8/10
  • Metallic 8/10

Glitter Gloss Vinyl Leatherette

rolls of blue teal silver red gold and purple  thick glitter gloss vinyl leatherette for cars cafe upholstery Christmas decoration craft seating and props
  • Fire retardant
  • leatherette vinyl
  • 11 gem colours available
  • Thick glitter layer
  • Smooth gloss surface
  • Price £22.99
  • Width 140 cm
  • Gloss 10/10
  • Sparkle 8/10

Paper Lame

gold paper lame fabric bright metallic shine for Christmas decoration fabric wrapping and display and merchandising
  • Crisp stiff texture
  • Available in Gold, silver and royal blue
  • Slightly textured shimmery metallic
  • Semi sheer fabric
  • Same finish both sides
  • Non stretch, smallest amount of give on the bias
  • Price £3.99
  • Width 112 cm
  • Shimmer 7/10
  • Shine 9/10
  • Metallic 10/10

Liquid Microdot Lame

gleaming milky gold metallic fabric for fashion wear Christmas displays visual merchandising theater
silver pewter microdot computer foil fabric for display visual merchandising fashion wear set design
  • Fluid Liquid Shine
  • Dots can only be seen up close
  • In white/gold, black/gold and black/silver
  • Drapes beautifully
  • Smooth metallic finish
  • One metallic side
  • Non stretch, but a small amount of give on the bias
  • Price £3.99
  • Width 112 cm
  • Shine 9/10
  • Shimmer 6/10
  • Metallic 10/10

Holographic Foil Dot

holographic dot computer foil fabric changing rainbow colours of the whole spectrum on sparkle stretch fabric for fashion rave wear 90s style hologram multicoloured stretch fabric
  • Made from metallic dot printing, not quite as tiny as microdot lame
  • Reflects the WHOLE spectrum
  • Available in white or black background
  • Stretch fabric, large stretch on vertical, medium on bias and a slight give on horizontal
  • Good quality holographic print
  • Strength of holographic colour display depends on lighting
  • Sparkle 10/10
  • Shine 10/10
  • Metallic 10/10
  • Wow factor 11/10

Glitter Mesh

rich gold fishnet glitter mesh net fabric non stretch metallic twinkling gold for Christmas party wear display merchandising
twinkle metallic fine mesh silver netting for Christmas new year party wear displays and decorations
  • Fine net or medium net
  • Lurex and polyester
  • Sheer fabric,
  • Display merchandising
  • Dressmaking
  • Costume
  • Price £3.49 per metre
  • Width – 138 cm
  • Shimmer 6/10
  • Metallic 6/10

Metallic Stretch Fabric

collection of coloured metallic stretch elastane lycra fabric for dance wear display christmas new year party wear clubbing beachwear
  • Dance-wear leotards leggings
  • 90% nylon 10% Elastane mix
  • Metallic colour one side
  • Block colour
  • Price £7.99 per metre
  • Width 143 cm
  • Metallic 8/10
  • Shine 8/10

There’s More….

So that’s a general idea of the different types of shiny and sparkle fabric we stock online and in-store. We have more though, lots of sparkly Lycra dance-wear, sparkle lace and jersey, plus more fabric up our sleeves hoping to appear next year. Watch this space and check out the website. https://www.fabricuk.com/

For an even closer look at more of our sparkle and shiny fabric, check out some links to Lurex, and Sparkle fabric for visual merchandising….

Kat, Fabric UK

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