Silk Crepe de Chine
Fluid silk crepe de chine with a fine grainy texture and a soft drape. A go-to silk for blouses, slip dresses and bias-cut evening wear.
- 15 colours
- 137 cm wide
- 100% Silk
- From $81.40 per metre
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Guide
Silk Crepe de Chine: Uses and How to Sew It
Why silk crepe de chine is worth it, how it compares with our other lightweight silks, what to make with it, and easy tips for sewing it at home.
Why silk crepe de chine?
- It breathes. Silk is a natural fibre, so it's comfortable to wear all day.
- A beautiful drape. At 16 momme it's fluid and swingy, with a soft, low lustre.
- Easy to wear. The fine crepe texture is less prone to showing creases than a smooth silk.
- It lasts. Looked after well, silk keeps its colour and character for years.
Certified silk. All of our silk crepe de chine is 100% pure mulberry silk, certified to two independent standards:
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard): the silk is organic, and traced from the farm to the finished cloth.
- OEKO-TEX Standard 100: tested for harmful substances, so it's safe against the skin.
Which lightweight silk?
These are our five lightweight silks. They're all 100% silk and 137 cm wide, but each one feels, falls and sews a little differently. Here's a quick look to help you choose.
| Georgette | Satin chiffon | Crinkle chiffon | Habotai | Crepe de chine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feel | Springy, with a soft grainy texture | Soft and silky, with a gentle satin shine | Feather-light, with a soft crinkle | Smooth and soft, with a light sheen | Fluid, with a fine grainy texture |
| How sheer | Semi-sheer | Semi-sheer | Semi-sheer | Mostly opaque; pale colours show through slightly | Mostly opaque; lighter colours show through a little |
| How it hangs | Flows and moves | Falls softly against the body | Floats, with lots of movement | Light and close to the body | Drapes and swings |
| Great for | Floaty skirts, sleeves, blouses, printing | Draped and gathered styles, soft layers | Scarves, sleeves, easy layers | Linings, blouses, scarves, silk painting | Blouses, slip dresses, bias-cut styles |
| To sew | A little shifty | Trickiest: it's slippery | Shifty, but the crinkle hides small wobbles | Fairly easy | The easiest of the five |
| Weight | 10 momme | 6.5 momme | 5.5 momme | 8.5 momme | 16 momme |
New to silk? Crepe de chine is the easiest to start with, then habotai.
What to make with it
- Blouses and shirts
- Slip dresses and bias-cut skirts
- Evening wear with a soft drape
- Luxury linings
Cutting
- Cut on a large table, one layer at a time for bias pieces.
- Use sharp scissors or a rotary cutter, and pattern weights or fine silk pins inside the seam allowance.
- Crepe de chine frays, so finish the edges soon after cutting.
Sewing
- Use a fresh, fine needle (size 70) and a fine mercerised cotton thread. Polyester thread is stronger, but it can make fine silk pucker. Silk thread is lovely for tacking and hand sewing.
- It's the easiest of our lightweight silks to sew: it stays put better than chiffon.
- French seams give a neat finish inside blouses and dresses.
- For bias-cut pieces, let them hang overnight before sewing and hemming.
- Sew with a 2 mm stitch to stop puckering.
- Guide the fabric lightly with one hand in front of the needle and one behind, keeping it gently taut. Don't pull it through.
- A walking foot, if you have one, helps two slippery layers feed evenly.
- To start a seam, hold both thread ends behind the foot and turn the wheel by hand for the first stitch, so the fabric isn't pulled down into the machine.
- Press each seam flat as soon as you've sewn it, before you press it open: this settles the stitches.
Hems
On blouses and shirts, a machine baby hem gives a fine, flat edge: press up 1 cm, stitch close to the fold, trim the allowance right up to the stitching, then turn it once more and stitch again. On bias-cut dresses and skirts, a hand-rolled hem keeps the drape soft.
Pressing
Use a dry iron on the silk setting with a pressing cloth on top. Test on a scrap first.
Questions
What is crepe de chine used for?
Blouses, slip dresses and bias-cut evening wear, and as a luxury lining.
Is crepe de chine see-through?
It's mostly opaque. Lighter colours can show through a little.
Do you have a heavier crepe de chine?
Yes: our 23 momme crepe de chine has more weight and body.
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