Silk Satin Dupion

What is silk satin dupion?

• Colour that changes as it moves. It's woven with threads in two shades, a darker one running the length of the fabric and a lighter one across it, so the colour shifts and deepens as it moves and catches the light. This is what's called a shot silk.
• A soft satin sheen. The lighter threads sit on the surface, giving it a satin sheen over the texture of dupion.
• Some natural slubs. Like dupion, it has some slubs and small irregularities. They're part of the fabric, not a fault, and they give it its character.
• Sculptural. It's soft in the hand but holds its shape, so it can be folded, pleated and draped into shapes that stay where you put them.
• Delicate on the surface. Pins, and stitching that's been unpicked, push the shiny surface threads aside and let the darker threads show through, leaving a darker line. Pin only inside the seam allowance and try to sew each seam once.

Two sides, both usable

Satin dupion is double sided. One side has the satin sheen and the lighter colour; the other shows more of the darker thread, so it looks deeper and richer. Both sides are finished well enough to be the right side.

• Choose either side as the right side for the whole garment, whichever colour you prefer.
• Or use both: a collar, cuff, lapel or bodice panel in the other side, a contrast bow, or a turned-back hem or wrap that shows the other side.
• Because the inside is just as good as the outside, it suits unlined pieces, reversible wraps and anything where the back of the fabric is seen.

Order a sample to see both sides of a colour before you buy.

Satin dupion or silk dupion?

Both are 100% silk with dupion's natural slubs, but they look and behave quite differently.

• Choose satin dupion when you want sculpted volume that still moves softly, a colour that changes with the light, or both sides on show.
• Choose silk dupion for crisp, tailored structure, easier sewing and the widest choice of colours.

Structured silks side by side

What to make with it

• Evening and bridal gowns with sculpted folds, drapes and volume
• Structured bodices, peplums and full skirts
• Jackets, coats and waistcoats, with the other side showing on lapels and cuffs
• Bows, sashes, ruffles and statement sleeves
• Reversible wraps and stoles

Cutting

• Lay all your pattern pieces facing the same way: the colour changes with direction, so a piece cut the other way will look a different shade.
• Decide which side you want as the right side before you cut, and mark the wrong side of each piece with tailor's chalk, tested on a scrap.
• Use pattern weights, or fine pins only inside the seam allowance: pins can leave darker marks on the satin surface.
• It frays, so finish the edges soon after cutting.

Sewing

• Use a fresh, fine to medium needle (size 70 or 80) and a good-quality polyester or mercerised cotton thread in a standard weight. Silk thread is lovely for tacking and hand sewing.
• Sew with a straight stitch of about 2 to 2.5 mm, and test on a scrap first.
• Try to sew each seam once: unpicked stitching leaves darker lines where the shiny threads have been pushed aside. Check the fit with a toile first, so there's nothing to unpick.
• If both sides will be seen, use seams that are neat on both sides, like French seams on straight edges, or bind the seam allowances with a bias strip of silk habotai.
• For sculpted pieces, underline with silk organza where you want extra hold.

Hems

For a soft, sculpted hem, turn up 4 to 5 cm, bind the raw edge with a bias strip of silk habotai and blindstitch it by hand. Where the other side will show, a faced hem in the same fabric, or a narrow rolled hem by hand on bows and ruffles, keeps both sides clean.

Pressing

Press on the silk setting through a pressing cloth, with no steam: water drops can mark it. Press lightly, mostly on the seams, so you don't flatten the satin surface or the sculpted folds. Test on a scrap first.

Questions