Talk to me about shantung

[gem]

I am thinking of buying some silk/linen blend shantung, but I've never worked with it before. I know from my hobby of reading mundane clothing catalogues that it's appropriate for dresses, so I have some sense of its weight, etc. But I'm looking for advice for working with it.

Gramercy!!

[Kate XXXXXX]

It can fray like crazy and vanish before your eyes.  Serge the ends before washing and serge your seam allowances as soon as it's cut out for flat seams...  DO NOT use pinking sheers: they will encourage an increased evaporation rate!

Remember that for true historic accuracy, you wouldn't use anything like shantung/dupion/wild silk...  The slubs were a sign of a 'fault' and it was shunned mightily until the 1960's.

[gem]

Thanks, Kate. Does that fray-prone-ness make it more fragile to wear, too? I was thinking a silk-linen blend would be pretty sturdy, but like I said, I don't really know.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Anything with slubs is more prone to wear at the slubs than the same blend or fiber without the slubs.  I should think a linen/silk blend would wear well, and the degree of slubbiness will determine how quickly and where the slubbed blend will wear.  Not very helpful, I know, but again, part of it will depend on the weight and hand of the cloth: I'd expect a smoother fabric with finer threads and a tighter weave to wear better than something with bigger slubs, more slubs, and a looser weave.

I should just go ahead and use it.  Let's face it, you aren't going to be wearing it to work and flinging it in the wash every week!  It's more of a special occasion fabric, and while you want it to last, it doesn't have to do the same job as yer average city suit or medical scrubs!   

[gem]

But Kate, scrubs was *exactly* what I was planning on using it for! LOL

I had almost convinced myself to buy it, but now I'm looking at cotton damasks... which are cheaper still. I think I'm going to have one more in-person shopping trip at local stores, then order swatches if I don't find something here (altho' where I think I'm going to find something comparable to cotton damask for $5/yard, I have no idea!).

[Kate XXXXXX]

I have 12m of a seriously delightful cotton/silk satin...  Lilac, so not so much a period colour for ren wear.  One day it'll make something vastly superior in 18th C kit, though.  Get some swatches and to the touchy-feely thing and see what you like.  Never any point in putting all this work into something that is less than seriously lovable!