Fabric 101: Taffeta

Taffeta is an elegant fabric with a smooth surface and a slight sheen on one side. It’s a crisp and thin fabric that was traditionally made out of silk. Nowadays, you’ll find taffeta is usually made from polyester or rayon, making it cheaper and more affordable.

Because of its luxurious texture, taffeta is still most commonly used in high-end evening gowns and wedding dresses. However, since cheap versions of taffeta are available, it’s also used for costumes in stage plays as well as cosplay. You’ll also see taffeta used as a lining fabric, especially in luxury handbags and coats.

Even though taffeta is no longer an exclusive fabric that only the rich can afford, it’s not common to see taffeta used in everyday clothing. This is because it is a delicate fabric that can pull and rip easily.

Fabric	Taffeta
Texture?	Smooth and silky texture
Stretch?	No stretch
Heavy or light?	Lightweight
Stiff or flowy drape?	Stiff drape
Nap?	No nap
Typical fiber content?	Traditionally silk, polyester is more common now
Opaque or sheer?	Usually opaque, sometimes semi-sheer
Shiny?	Slight shine
Fraying?	Frays a lot, especially silk taffeta
Pilling?	Resistant to pilling
Cool or warm weather?	Better for warm weather
What to make?	Evening wear, wedding gowns, linings, costuming
What needle to use?	Use a microtex needle

What kind of fabric is taffeta?

Taffeta is a stiff, lightweight fabric that was historically used for large gowns because of how well it can hold its shape, especially when gathered. It’s also a remarkably durable fabric for one that is so thin (it’s still considered delicate overall though).

Taffeta is also considered to be a luxurious fabric, with a lovely, subtle shine and smooth surface, while having just enough texture to not feel slick or slippery. The other trait of taffeta is the sound it makes. While many fabrics are quiet, taffeta is known for the audible “rustling” sound it makes when you wear it. The sound is loud enough that it actually scared my rabbits.

Historically, taffeta was made of 100% silk, but now that’s not very common. Instead, polyester is used to try to mimic the look and feel of the original taffeta material. Typically the polyester taffeta will be a little thicker and stiffer than the true silk material. It also won’t have the soft and breathable qualities that silk has, making it not as comfortable to wear.

What can you make with taffeta fabric?

Taffeta is most often used for high-end gowns (like wedding dresses) and for costuming. Wedding dresses are more likely to use the real silk version of the fabric since it is a softer, more elegant type of taffeta. It’s more common to use polyester taffeta for cosplay and costuming purposes because it is significantly more affordable and easier to care for.

The other common usage for taffeta is in linings. It’s a great fabric to use for coat linings and even the linings of handbags (especially high-end brand-name handbags). I have also used taffeta to create simple sheath dresses since these look good with fabric that will hold its shape. I don’t recommend it for any dress that you want to have a flowing quality though.

Properties of taffeta fabric

• Texture: Taffeta is a smooth fabric with a silky surface. It’s not glossy, still maintaining a small amount of texture on the surface, but it’s still a fairly smooth fabric. Polyester taffeta will often have a plastic-like feel to the surface of the material (especially lower-quality taffeta).
• Weight: Taffeta is an extremely lightweight fabric. It has an almost floating quality about it.
• Drape: Taffeta has a crisp drape. It’s known for its ability to be so stiff that it can more or less stay in whatever shape you put it in. This makes taffeta an excellent choice for structured apparel and full-bodied gowns that take advantage of the way that taffeta drapes and holds its shape.
• Fiber composition: Most taffeta that you see at any local sewing store is going to be polyester taffeta. You’ll see silk taffeta in wedding gowns and high-end fashion (and in high-budget movie costuming), but it’s not commonly used by hobby sewists.
• Opacity: Most taffeta that I’ve used has been completely opaque. However, I do have one lower-quality type that is just slightly semi-sheer. So it is possible to find taffeta that’s a bit see-through. Most of the time, this is an indication that the taffeta is lower quality and more appropriate for lining.
• Shine: Taffeta has a definite sheen on the surface, but it isn’t usually a very reflective shine. Sometimes low-quality taffeta will have a plastic-like shine when taking photographs with a flash, but otherwise, you can expect an elegant sheen.
• Fraying: Silk taffeta frays a lot, so be prepared to handle the delicate fabric with care. Polyester taffeta does not fray nearly as much, and is much easier to handle.
• Durability: While somewhat durable for such a lightweight fabric, taffeta can get snagged and pull threads easily. It’s also not uncommon for a small snag to cause a large run in the fabric.
• Wrinkling: Polyester taffeta is fairly wrinkle-resistant. It will crease if it’s left folded or crumpled for a long time, so I recommend hanging taffeta garments. Silk taffeta will wrinkle a little more easily.
• Breathability: Silk taffeta is quite breathable and comfortable to wear even in pretty extreme heat. However, polyester taffeta is like wearing a sheet of plastic. It’s not breathable at all.

what to know before sewing with taffeta

As far as thin, delicate fabrics go, taffeta is not that bad. It has a few difficulties that you need to work around, but it’s completely doable, even if it’s your first time working with a non-cotton fabric.

• Use a smaller needle: Taffeta tends to pucker when you’re stitching it. Switching to a smaller size needle (or even a microtex needle) and slowing down the sewing speed can do wonders.
• Use extra sharp pins: When you poke a pin through the taffeta, it will leave a little pinhole mark that doesn’t recover the way cotton fabric does. To keep these marks from ruining your final garment, keep your pins inside the seam allowance and use use ultra-fine pins.
• Use a shorter stitch length: I will usually use somewhere around a 2 to 2.5mm stitch length on my machine, but you should do some tests on your own machine to decide what works best for you.

The other aspect of sewing with taffeta is the fraying. Polyester taffeta usually does not have this problem, but silk taffeta can be a nightmare. Use these tips to help with any fabric that frays a little too much:

• Finish all the sides of your fabric before you start sewing (using a serger or a zigzag stitch with an overcast foot)
• Cut your fabric with a pair of pinking shears instead of your regular shears (guaranteed to give you hand cramps too)
• Use fray check on all the edges of your fabric as soon as you cut the pattern pieces

How to care for taffeta fabric

If you are using real silk taffeta, send it to the dry cleaners. Polyester taffeta is a little easier to care for, but you still want to wash it on delicate settings to prevent any snagging or ripping. You don’t have to worry too much about polyester taffeta shrinking in the wash. It’s also best to hang dry the taffeta clothes to avoid snagging the delicate fabric in a tumble dryer.

Should you iron or steam taffeta?

Generally, it’s okay to iron or steam your taffeta garments as long as you are careful. When ironing polyester taffeta, make sure to keep the iron on low heat settings and iron on the reverse side of the fabric. This will prevent you from melting the fabric or making an ugly melted shine mark on the surface. Silk taffeta can take a little more heat than polyester, but it will still burn if you make the temperature too hot.

With steaming, you don’t have to worry about melting the fabric. The steam does not get hot enough. However, you do need to make sure you use a steamer that does not spit droplets of water. If it does, there’s a good chance the water will stain your taffeta.