Chiffon crepe: description and composition of the material

In winter cold, everyone wraps themselves in warm clothes, waiting for the onset of warmth. With the advent of spring, I want to quickly put on light flowing dresses, wear thin blouses, weightless sundresses. Chiffon crepe fabric is the best suited for sewing light clothing.

Beautiful dresses with elegant flounces and drapery sewn from this fabric will help to make any fashionista simply irresistible. What is crepe chiffon, what are the features, how comfortable is the fabric to wear? Is it easy to care for products made from this fabric?

When you visit a fabric store, your eyes run wide, how wide a choice. Among this variety, it is difficult not to mention crepe chiffon. This material is opaque, than it differs from the usual chiffon, has a granular structure. The difference between crepe chiffon and chiffon in textured surface and density. Translated from the French language, the word "crepe" means "twisting." Create a canvas by very tight twisting of the weft and warp threads in different directions. With a thread length of 1 meter, about 3 thousand revolutions are made. After creating the canvas, it is exposed to high temperature, resulting in a granularity of the fabric.

This is one of the most popular sewing materials today. Women’s clothes are sewn from it, used for decoration. Chiffon crepe bows, shuttlecocks, cuffs and frills will look great. Usually this is a plain material of different colors. To create an effective image, a pattern is printed on the canvas, giving the product a great elegance. Its surface is matte, but if the material is sprayed, then it has a pleasant sheen. Bleached material is quite difficult to find.

When choosing this material, it should be remembered that it can give a slight shrinkage after washing. To give the fiber a brilliant appearance, mercerization is carried out. Due to this, the fading of the fabric is reduced, the initial color is enhanced, and the hygroscopicity and strength of the fabric are increased. After the mercerization process, the fabric becomes more attractive in appearance and is extraordinarily soft. At the same time, the material becomes easier to maintain and operate. It should be noted that this technology is quite expensive, therefore it is often used for elite and expensive fabrics.

According to the standards, the composition of the material should be natural silk, but crepe chiffon made of rayon, other additions can be found. Silk in various proportions may be present, as well as mercerized cotton, rayon, polyester or polyamide. The price depends on the composition of the fabric. When replacing silk with synthetics, the price of the product will be much lower. This material is very popular, because from it you can sew things that are worn all year round. Such clothes are worn in the form of a festive dress, as casual clothes.

There are several types of this material:

• with spraying;
• with the addition of lurex;
• bleached.

Chiffon crepe can be combined with fabrics similar in structure, as well as opposite in appearance. For example, the material will look great in combination with both fur, leather and knitwear. As an evening option, the combination of material with satin looks great, and for everyday wear, a combination with linen, cotton, and denim is suitable. Chiffon crepe does not stretch, since its threads are twisted very tightly, therefore the matter comes out dense and inelastic.

This lightweight material is usually chosen for sewing air dresses. Often, blouses, light summer sundresses and dresses, skirts are sewn from it. Very good material for finishing these products. Flounce, ruffles and cuffs on products will look great. Choose crepe chiffon for tailoring concert costumes. It will make excellent options for outfits for oriental dances, fancy dress, costumes for circus artists.

The fabric is very pleasant to the touch, light and airy, sliding between the fingers. In the process of working with this material, they take the thinnest needles and threads, make many lines. Cutting this fabric is not very convenient, as the material slides, however, the result is worth it. The material is mainly used for sewing clothes and decorating them. Chiffon crepe does not deform and does not allow moisture to pass through, therefore it is used in cosmetology, shipbuilding and other industrial fields.

This material looks very impressive. Crepe chiffon is very popular with buyers, there are reasons for this.

• Very pleasant to the touch, when wearing, skin irritation does not occur.
• The canvas is quite dense, although at the same time airy. The fabric does not shine through.
• The material is strong, resistant to any damage. It will not tear at the seam or in the process of mechanical impact.
• Has a granular structure, double-sided, does not fade, does not lose color when washing.
• It has many colors, various prints are possible.

If we talk about the shortcomings of the material, then there are very few of them.

• During processing, crepe chiffon slides, making work difficult. When working with this material, special clamps will be required to fix the fabric.
• When washing the product shrinkage is possible.
• Things need additional care if there are silk fibers in the material.
• The material does not tolerate exposure to sunlight, for example, during prolonged drying in the sun.

For a thing to last a long time, it is important to know how to properly care for it. Things from crepe chiffon are best left to dry cleaned or washed by hand. When washing, you must adhere to the rules for delicate washing of products: wash clothes at temperatures up to 30 degrees;

• do not wash colored and white items together;
• after washing, it is better not to squeeze things out, but simply shake and carefully spread out;
• it is not recommended to rub products, otherwise the fibers may be damaged;
• no bleach is added to the water.

So that the products do not lose their shape and do not deform, they are dried after washing on a horizontal surface. To do this, put a terry towel on a table or other surface and lay a wet product on it. Thanks to the terry towel backing, the fabric dries faster as the towel removes excess moisture. If after washing the fabric becomes faded and changes color, you can restore it. To do this, when rinsing the product into the water add a spoonful of vinegar.

Since the material is almost not wrinkled, you can not iron it. If ironing is necessary, for example, when creases, it is carried out with caution. For this, the iron is set to “click” mode. It is necessary to check how warm the iron is, otherwise tanning marks may appear. In order for the fabric to serve as long as possible, it is recommended to iron it through gauze, while it should not be wet. In the warm season, it is better to choose crepe chiffon products that have silk in their composition, rather than synthetic fibers. Although such a fabric will cost more, but on a hot day it will be cool, will not stick to the body.

The material is difficult to maintain, and it’s not easy to sew products from it, however, the advantages cover these small flaws. Every fashionista seeks to have things sewn from crepe chiffon in her wardrobe.

When choosing products from crepe chiffon, you need to know the features of the material. Since the fabric may sit down after washing, it is better to prefer a larger size. In addition, this is not stretch fabric, it does not stretch. The fabric sits even after washing the product in cold water. From the composition of the material depends on whether to expect a similar effect. The more natural silk is in the composition, the greater will be the shrinkage of the product. The style of the dress is very important. You should choose a style that leaves a few centimeters in the chest. If the product is larger than the required size at the hips, it can be sutured. But you can not do this, as the fabric is flowing, and there will be no extra space.

See how to work with chiffon in the next video.