A First Stumbling Block in the Making of the Fran Tie Shirt

Yesterday I printed, taped together, traced and cut my pattern of the Fran Tie Shirt and I have now hit my first stumbling block: Fabric!

What kind of fabric can I use to make this blouse? The picture suggests a drapey, flowing, opaque fabric that preferably needs as little ironing as possible. The only fabric I can think of that can share all of these characteristics and is within my budget is a polyester or polyester blend.

However, I have a strong disliking for polyester when worn directly against my skin. It feels icky, is clingy, makes my hair static and, to be frank with you, makes me smell. It's the equivalent of wearing a plastic bin bag wrapped around you all day.

I guess it can be a look [link]

So, what options do I have?

My go-to drapey fabric of choice for tops, blouses and dresses is viscose, or as some people call it, rayon. Viscose is not as expensive as silk, but can share many of its qualities without giving you that icky polyester-y feel. Viscose is, however, for some reason, really hard to come by. It's not really a standard fabric, fabric stores stock in all sorts of colours and weights, like they do with cotton or wool or silk.

Searching around my local fabric stores I have found a small range of viscose prints but no plain viscose at all. Somehow I really don't want to spoil the androgynous and classic feel of the blouse with a ditsy flowery print.

I've come up with a couple of options locally sourced and from my stash. None are perfect but I'll have to go with one of them and just give it a try:

1 This is my favourite option so far. It's a cotton lawn with small raised dots. I like the colour and the classic look of it but am afraid it won't drape that well.
2 This is a viscose. It's not as light-weight as I want it to be and needs some ironing but could work. As much as I like polka dots I fear that they'll give the blouse a clown-like feel.
3 This fabric would be ideal but sadly has a high polyester content mixed in with viscose. I might also not have quite as much of it as I would need to make this blouse.

What to do? Hmmm... What fabric do you use when in need of a drapey, light-weight fabric? Do you succumb to the allures of cheap and cheerful polyester. Any suggestions for suitable fabric and where to get it are welcome!

On another note, how are you getting on with your Named creations?