Silk Chiffon

Chiffon is a lightweight, sheer, plain-weave fabric made from highly twisted (crepe) yarns. The yarns are twisted in alternating directions, some clockwise and some counter-clockwise, and that twist gives chiffon its slightly rough, grainy feel and its springy, floating drape. It's transparent but not limp, and it moves with the slightest breath of air, which is why it's been used for evening dresses, overlays, sleeves and scarves for more than a century. The beaded evening dresses of the 1920s were often built on silk chiffon.

Silk chiffon is the original. Polyester and other synthetic chiffons are far more common now: cheaper and easier to care for, but with a slightly different hand.

Silk or polyester?

The practical differences:

• Feel and drape. Silk chiffon is softer, slightly warmer in the hand, and drapes more fluidly. Polyester chiffon is a little crisper and springier.
• Breathability. Silk is far more comfortable against the skin in heat.
• Pressing. Silk takes a gentle press. Polyester resists pressing and can melt or glaze under a hot iron.
• Care and cost. Polyester is washable, stronger and much cheaper.

To check a fabric of unknown fibre, carefully burn a small snippet over a heatproof dish. Silk burns slowly, smells like burning hair, and leaves a soft, crushable ash. Polyester melts and shrinks away from the flame, smells sweetish or chemical, and leaves a hard bead. See Synthetic Fibers.

Choosing patterns for chiffon

Chiffon suits designs with fullness, softness and movement: gathered skirts, flowing sleeves, bias-cut slips, overlays and ruffles. It's poorly suited to closely fitted designs with lots of darts and seams, because every seam allowance shows through the sheer fabric. Plan the inside of the garment as carefully as the outside: seam allowances, hems and facings will all be visible. Most chiffon garments need a lining or slip underneath for opacity (see Lining Fabrics).

Cutting

Chiffon slides, shifts and won't stay on grain on its own. These methods help, and they can be combined:

• Cut single layer, never folded, and flip the pattern piece over for the second side.
• Cut over paper. Lay the chiffon on a sheet of tissue or pattern paper, pin the pattern on top through all layers, and cut through everything. The paper stops the chiffon sliding.
• Use a rotary cutter and mat with pattern weights instead of pins, which disturb the fabric less.
• Find the grain by pulling a crosswise thread, which leaves a visible line to cut along. Chiffon drifts off-grain easily.
• Stabilise it for very difficult pieces with a spray or soak-on gelatine or starch stabiliser, which stiffens the fabric temporarily and washes out afterwards. Test on a scrap first: some silks water-spot.
• Use fine pins (silk pins) only within the seam allowances, because they can leave holes.

Sewing

• Needle: a new Microtex 60/8 or 70/10. A dull needle snags and pulls threads.
• Thread: fine polyester or silk thread.
• Stitch length: about 1.8-2.2 mm. Short stitches help prevent puckering.
• A straight-stitch needle plate, if your machine has one, stops the fabric being pushed down into the feed dog opening.
• Start on a scrap. Begin each seam on a small piece of tissue or scrap fabric and sew straight onto the chiffon, so the machine doesn't swallow the first stitches.
• Hold the fabric gently taut in front of and behind the foot as it sews (without pulling it through), or sew over a strip of tissue paper and tear it away afterwards.

Seams and hems

Use French seams on almost everything. They're narrow, neat and look intentional through the sheer fabric. Where a French seam is awkward (armholes, curves), use a narrow bound seam or a very narrow overlock.

For hems, choose from:

• A narrow machine-rolled hem, using a rolled hem foot, or turned twice by hand guided by a line of stitching.
• An overlocker rolled hem, quick and neat, especially on circular and bias edges.
• A hand-rolled hem, slow but the most refined finish: roll the raw edge between your fingers and slip-stitch it.
• A "baby hem": stitch 1/8" (3 mm) from the edge, press up along the stitching, stitch again close to the fold, trim close, turn again and stitch a third time.

Let any bias-cut chiffon hang for a day before hemming.

Pressing

Use a silk or low setting, a press cloth, and little or no steam. Test first, because some silks water-spot. Press seams with the tip of the iron and avoid pressing over pins.

Care

Silk chiffon is usually best hand-washed cold or dry-cleaned, depending on the dye and the label. Polyester chiffon can usually be machine-washed on a gentle cycle in a mesh bag.

Chiffon rewards patience more than skill. Allow more time than you expect, start with a simple gathered or bias-cut project, and don't plan your first chiffon garment for the week before you need to wear it.