Viscose, also known as Rayon, is a man-made, plant derived ingredients based fabric. It is very drapey, breathable, lightweight, soft to the touch with a silky feel and matt finish providing a luxurious feel. Widely used for garments requiring drape such as dresses, skirts, trousers, blouses and tops.
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- Blends well with other fibres
- Drapes well
- Breathable
- Tends to be soft to touch
- Inexpensive
- Antistatic
- Absorbs dye and retains colour well
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- Prone to creasing
- It can shrink after washing (it's very important that you pre wash your fabric)
- Fibres weaken when wet & deteriorates with exposure to light
Tips For Sewing with Viscose Fabric:
- pre-wash your viscose (rayon) fabric as it can shrink, and then press your fabric afterwards
- use a brand new sewing machine needle, you can use Microtex needles, which are thinner and sharper for a crisp sew. They pierce the fabric without creating pulls in the threads in delicate fabrics.
- sew with a fine machine needle and short stitch length of 2.5 mm.
- We recommend Gutermann Sew-All polyester thread for machine sewing.
- use fine sharp pins.
- take your time when cutting out your fabric and make sure your grainlines are lined up.
- Use pattern weights (or make your own) and use them to hold the slippery fabric in place while you sew.
- use a lightweight woven interfacing for woven viscose fabrics.
- stay stitch (a line of stitching sewn around an edge within the seam allowance to prevent the fabric from stretching out)
- French Seams are a great way to finish the inside make for a luxury finish. It's a more involved technique, but it creates a beautiful finish inside the garment, without the need for an overlocker.
- make sure you let your garment hang for a day or more before finishing any hems.
- sew a line of stitching before pressing the hem as this will help you to achieve a straight hem.
- hand baste tricky areas such as zips, cuffs, collars pockets etc.
- you can use spray starch when cutting out your fabric as this will make the fabric more sturdy and help with accuracy.