Seersucker Fabric – The Milk And Sugar Cotton Fabric



Seersucker fabric is another of those distinctive fabrics. Seersucker fabric has distinctive puckered stripes with alternating plain ones, and can also be in a checkered pattern. Seersucker is associated with being a cool summer fabric, and is part of the cotton family of fabrics. The fabric is generally made of cotton, but can be a cotton/polyester blend, but can also be made of rayon, or silk. Seersucker gets its name from the Persian word for milk and sugar. The smooth stripes resemble milk and the bumpy stripes resembling sugar, thus the translation from the word shirushakar for milk and sugar.



Red and White Seersucker Fabric Back and White Seersucker Fabric Fuschia/Blue/Yellow Seersucker Fabric

Fabric Characteristics:

• Firmly woven

• Doesn’t require ironing

• Breathable fabric

• Light to medium weight fabric

• Difficult to tear

• Looks the same on both sides

• Difficult to ease

• Doesn’t hold a crease

• Ironing not recommended

• Can be washed or dry cleaned

Working With These Fabrics Requires:

• Sewing machine needles recommended are 60/8-120/20 sharps or universals depending on the weight of the fabric

• Hand sewing needles recommended are sizes 5-10

• Sewing machine settings recommended are a stitch length of 1.5-3 mm

• Thread recommended is lightweight cotton, all-purpose cotton, cotton/polyester blend, heavy topstitching thread, all-purpose topstitching thread made of cotton, polyester, rayon or silk

• Marking tools can be all types, except wax

• Tools and equipment recommended are sharp scissors, sharp shears, rotary cutter and mat, pins, and small safety pins

• Seams and hems recommended depend on the fabric weight, structure, care requirements, and garment use and quality

• Interfacings, linings, and underlinings depend on the fabric weight, garment type and structure, and care requirements

These Fabrics Are Suitable For:

Seersucker is suitable for semi-fitted or loose-fitted summer suits, shirts, casual clothing such as shorts, sleepwear, and kid’s clothing.

For information about the notions, tools, and equipment required to complete a sewing project, click here to view the sewing notions home page

For more information about this family of fabrics some great references are:

Claire Shaeffer’s Fabric Sewing Guide

All About Cotton – Julie Parker’s Fabric Reference Series

For more interesting information about seersucker fabric click here on Wikipedia.org


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Sheer Fabric
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