Sewing on Silk Fabric
If you are sewing on silk, wash the silk first. Use a specially designed silk cleanser.Then you can hand wash it
when soiled. Once you take it to the dry-cleaner, you cannot hand wash it.
Some silks are difficult to sew, as they are very slippery, and slip
badly at the seamlines.
How to tell which side of the silk is the outside:
The face, or outside, has fewer imperfections
Texture, ribs, naps, cords, pile, cords, are more pronounced
on the face
On jersey, the knit side is the traditional face
Printed fabrics are brighter on the face
Solid color have more sheen or luster on the face
Wild silkworms live on oak lives, rather than mulberry leaves.
This coarser silk is tan in color, and is used in pongee, raw silk, or
Shantung silk. The coarser oak leaves produces a coarser filament.
Varieties of Silk - from soft fragile sheers to stiff and heavy.
Bengaline: Coatings; Ribbed Fabrics
Brocade: Rather heavy, decorated surfaces
Charmeuse: Great for lingerie: Lightweight silk
Satin
Chiffon: Soft, drapeable, transparent
China Silk: Most often seen on silk scarves. Lightweight
Crepe de Chine: Lightweight
Douppioni: Ribbed fabric
Faille: Great for suits: Ribbed
Fuji Silk: Lightweight
Gazar: Transparent, Lightweight
Georgette: Soft, transparent.
Gros de Londres: Ribbed fabric: stripes
Grosgrain: Ribbed, as in Grosgrain ribbon
Habutai: Lightweight
Honan: Lightweight
Jacquard Silk: Lightweight
Jersey: Silk knits
Marquisette; :Crisp, transparent
Matelasse: Decorative
Moire: Moire taffeta, like a watermarked fabric
Mousseline de Soie: Crisp, transparent
Organza: Crisp, transparent. Used in couture
Ottoman: Ribbed, stripes
Peau d’Ange: Satin
Peau d’Soie: Satin
Pongee: lightweight, good for blouses
Satin-faced Crepe: Satin fabrics
Shantung: Ribbed, lightweight wonderful
Silk Noil: lightweight, ribbed, loosely woven
Suiting: Loosely woven fabrics
Surah: Lightweight
Taffeta: taffeta –rustles
Tussah; ribbed
Velvet: Pile fabrics, Velvet
Voile: transparent
Selected Merchants
Fashion Fabrics Club for all your fabric needs.
Featuring :
Silk Charmeuse Fabric
Silk Chiffon Fabric
Silk Dupioni Fabric
Silk Georgette Fabric
as well as other silk fabrics. Click for Silk Fabrics
For silk-like fabrics, visit Joann.com
Click for
Silk Essence
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