Silk Fabric Buying Guide - TheSilkFabric.com - where you can meet all about silk fabric, silk solid color and silk printed textile design

Silk fabric's absorbency makes it comfortable to wear in warm weather and while active. Its low conductivity keeps warm air close to the skin during cold weather. It is often used for clothing such as shirts, blouses, formal dresses, high fashion clothes, lingerie, pajamas, robes, dress suits, sun dresses and evening dresses. 

We would like to share the valuable information in silk fabric that we have gathered while working on our silk dress projects. We have seen many young talented fashion designers and do it yourself users are struggling to find right fabrications for their works. We have seen many of them even do not know how these gorgeous silk fabrics cannot be compared with those cheap synthetic versions.

Silk Fabric Type

The finest silk fibers, and most of what we use today, are produced by "cultivated" silkworms grown in a controlled environment. The worms are fed a diet of mulberry leaves and increase their body size 10,000 times in their short life span. Once the cocoon is spun and before the worm hatches through the silk into a moth, the cocoon is soaked in hot water then unraveled, producing filaments that can be up to a mile long in size.

The raw silk is then processed to remove the sericin - the natural "gum" that protects the fibers and causes them to stick to each other as the cocoon was spun.

Silk is a protein fiber, similar to wool or to human hair. It is only natural for silks to have some irregularities – sometimes called "slubs". This is the nature of the 100% silk fabric.

Silk that has been processed can be woven or knit into a variety of fabrics. Silk will shrink, so if you are using it to construct clothing, be sure to preshrink it. Silk often has a wonderful feel, (referred to as a "hand"), and an almost iridescent sheen that makes us think of luxury.

The weight of silk is shown as "mm" – pronounced "mommy" – and varies within the different types of silk. The following list of various types of silk may help you understand some of the qualities of each:

Silk Chiffon Fabric

Often the lightest weight and most diaphanous of the silks, silk chiffon is also the most see-through. It creates the "billows" of fabric that add dimension to garments, but generally requires some kind of lining or backing unless it's used for scarves.

Silk Habotai Fabric (china silk)

Silk habotai is a lightweight, sheer, plain-weave fabric. It's sometimes referred to as habutai, or habotai, or pongee. It is one of the less expensive and more commonly available silk fabrics.

Silk habotai can often be found as light as 5 mm and as heavy as 12 mm. Most of our scarves are made of 8 mm Habotai. When purchasing for clothing construction, or purchasing ready-made clothing, this fabric is not recommended for fitted garment styles because the seams will tear from the stress.

Silk CDC Fabric (Silk Crepe de Chine)

Silk Crepe de Chine or silk cdc is a lightweight fabric made by twisting some fibers clockwise and others counterclockwise. The twisted fibers are then woven in a plain-weave fabric, but it's the twisted fibers, not the weave, that gives crepe its distinctive "pebbly" look and feel rather than a shiny luster. Both sides of the fabric look and feel the same.

Many scarves are made of Silk Crepe de Chine, often in the 12mm to 16mm range. When purchasing ready-made clothing or considering this fabric for sewing, avoid using it in tailored styles because the fabric is too soft to hold a structured shape.

Silk Crepe de Chine doesn't ravel as easily as other silk fabrics, but it will tear if not handled gently.

Silk Charmeuse Fabric

Generally, when we think of traditional silk fabric, this is the fabric we have in mind. The back of the fabric is a flattened crepe while the front is a shimmery satin weave.

Silk charmeuse has even more drape than crepe de chine and works well for scarves, blouses and lingerie. Occasionally we will offer scarves in silk charmeuse.

Silk Jacquard Fabric

Silk Jacquard silks offer various woven patterns, using matte and reflective threads to create a light and dark effect in the fabric. This effect is similar to brocade, although the Jacquard is originally created in one color. These are generally heavier weight and more densely woven. Patterns are often florals and paisleys.

This added dimension (pattern) makes this fabric perfect for abstract for free-form dyeing. Many Envelope Pouches are made from Jacquard, as are some of our Cell Phone and Glass Cases.

Silk Dupioni Fabric (Silk Shantung)

Silk dupioni is a plain-weave fabric with slubbed ribs. It has a stiff, taffeta-like hand and is usually dyed in bright colors.

Silk dupioni is often made into elegant evening gowns or semi-fitted vests and garments. But make sure the style isn't too fitted, because the fabric doesn't stand up well to stress and ravels easily.

It's often recommended that dupioni be drycleaned to resist abrasions. However, as with most silk, you can generally wash dupioni with positive results. Just be sure to serge the raw edges first to prevent raveling. Washing will make the fabric lose some of its stiffness, which may be your preference, and the color will soften as the excess dye is washed away.

Silk Noil Fabric

Silk noil is made from the short fibers left after combing and carding so it doesn't shine like many other silk fabrics. Noil looks similar to cotton, but has the soft feel of silk against the skin. It also drapes better than cotton and resists wrinkling, so it's the perfect choice when traveling.

It can be machine washed on gentle and dried on low, but this will cause a faded, "weathered" look. If you prefer bright colors, dry-clean or hand wash.

Silk Cotton Voile Fabric

Silk cotton voile is a soft, sheer fabric, usually made of silk yarn and cotton yarn blends. The term comes from French, and means veil. Because of its light weight, the fabric is mostly used in soft furnishing. Full-length curtains in hot countries are made with voile and used as window treatments and light weighted top blouse.

Silk cotton voiles are available in a range of patterns and colors. Silk cotton voile fabric is used in dress-making, either in multiple layers or laid over a second material. Voile is very similar to silk chiffon, which is also used in dress-making but not much sheer as silk chiffon.

Silk Stretch Fabric (silk span)

Silk stretch fabric has all the softness and bright luster of silk fabric, but with spandex added for superior stretch and comfortable movement. Usually it contains 90% ~ 95% silk with 5% ~ 10% spandex portions. Silk stretch fabric usually comes silk stretch charmeuse, silk stretch cdc, silk stretch ggt, silk stretch chiffon and silk stretch 4-ply.

Raw Silk Fabric

Raw silk is any silk yarn or fabric that hasn't had the sericin - the natural "gum" that protects the fiber - removed. The fabric is stiff and dull and the sericin tends to attract dirt and odors.

Colors / Printed / Where to get it?

• Looking for silk solid colors? Introducing the most popular silk solid colors. More than 100 colors are available to cut it out right a way.
• Looking for silk printed fabrics? Introducing textile design types and silk printed fabrics, more than 1,000 patterns ready to cut it out.
• Where to buy it? Introducing the best silk providers who have in stocks. They already dyed and printed for the stocks, ready to go!