What Is Organza?

How is organza made?

Organza is made by weaving yarns in a plain weave and giving the cloth a crisp finish; the fibre can be silk, rayon, nylon, acrylic or polyester, according to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s CAMEO materials database. In a plain weave each crosswise yarn passes over one lengthwise yarn and under the next.

Sandra Betzina, writing in Threads, describes organza as typically a balanced plain weave: the warp and weft threads are the same weight. She lays plain organza out double, without a nap layout, and switches to a one-way layout only for directional prints and jacquards.

Silk and manufactured organza

Betzina notes that organza is available in polyester and rayon, but that many sewers prefer silk organza because it is less likely to pucker at the seams and resists heat damage. Organza also comes printed, as delicate jacquards and with decorative finishes.

What are the properties of organza?

Organza is sheer, stiff and crisp to the touch. CAMEO lists it as a fabric for evening dresses, wedding clothes, neckwear and trimming.

• Transparency: light passes through it, so anything behind it shows, including seam allowances, facings and conventional interfacing.
• Body: heavyweight silk organza does not drape, Betzina warns, so choose a shape that does not need a fluid fabric, such as a full skirt.
• Strength: silk organza is strong even though it looks delicate.
• Heat: silk organza withstands a hot iron well enough to be used as a see-through pressing cloth.
• Shrinkage: Betzina states that organza does not shrink.

What is the difference between organza, chiffon and organdy?

Organza and chiffon are both sheer plain-weave cloths: organza is the stiff one with a crisp finish, chiffon the light, diaphanous one woven from finely twisted yarns. Organdy is the cloth CAMEO calls similar to organza, separated from it by fibre, because organza is not cotton.

Neither organza nor chiffon is a fibre name, so the cloth’s name tells you nothing about whether it is silk.

How is organza graded or measured?

Organza has no grade that has to appear on a label; under US and EU rules the label must show fibre content, not weight or quality. The practical distinction is weight. Betzina separates lightweight silk organza, which she rates the best underlining and interfacing for silk fabrics that need added body, from heavyweight silk organza, which she recommends as a fashion fabric for a scarf, a blouse, a special-occasion dress or a full skirt. When you buy by the metre, ask for the weight and compare like with like.

How does organza appear on a clothing label?

Organza never appears as a fibre on a compliant label; the label names the fibre the organza is woven from, such as silk or polyester, with its percentage by weight.

• In the US, 16 CFR 303.16 requires the generic names and percentages by weight of the fibres present at 5 per cent or more, in order of predominance, plus the name or registered identification number (RN) of the manufacturer or another firm handling the product, and the country where it was processed or manufactured. Fibres under 5 per cent are grouped as other fibres, with exceptions such as a fibre with a clearly established functional significance.
• In the EU, Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 allows only the fibre names in its Annex I. “Silk” is reserved for “fibre obtained exclusively from silk-secreting insects”, and “100 %”, “pure” or “all” may be used only for products made entirely of one fibre.

So “silk organza” on a hang tag is a claim about the fibre; the fibre-content label is where you check it. In US written advertising, 16 CFR 303.40 treats weave or construction terms that by custom also indicate a fibre as an implication of fibre content.

How do you tell good organza from poor organza?

Good organza is judged by its fibre label and by how cleanly the garment deals with the cloth’s transparency, because shortcuts are visible in a sheer cloth.

1. Read the fibre line. “100 % silk” or the US generic name “silk” tells you what you are paying for. A product called “silk organza” whose label says polyester is not silk.
2. Hold a seam up to the light. Seam allowances are visible in a sheer cloth. Betzina’s method for organza is a narrow French seam, which encloses the raw edges; look for that narrow, enclosed finish.
3. Check that seams lie flat. Many sewers prefer silk organza because it is less likely to pucker at the seams, Betzina notes, so a rippled seam is a red flag.
4. Look at the ends of the seams. Betzina advises against backstitching organza because the doubled threads are too visible; heavy doubled stitching at seam ends is exactly what she warns against.
5. Look at the front edges from the outside. Conventional interfacing shows through organza. Betzina interfaces with self-fabric and, where a pattern has front facings, suggests substituting a second set of fronts so no facing edge shows. A visible band of interfacing along the front edge is the show-through her method avoids.
6. Measure the hem. Betzina’s organza hem is a narrow double-fold hem about 6 mm (¼ inch) deep. A neat, narrow, even hem suits the cloth.

How do you care for organza?

Follow the care label first, because the fibre decides what the cloth can take; Betzina’s advice is to dry-clean a finished organza garment.

• Washing: machine washing and drying soften organza slightly, so she prewashes yardage only when a softer hand is wanted. Organza does not shrink, she says.
• Pressing: use a dry iron on the silk setting, keep the soleplate clean and avoid water, which can leave spots.
• Silk organza pressing cloths are the exception: Betzina puts them through the washer and dryer.

Is organza sustainable?

There is no single answer, because organza is a weave and its impact depends on the fibre it is made from. Under EU law silk is fibre obtained exclusively from silk-secreting insects and viscose is a regenerated cellulose fibre; under US rules polyester and nylon are long-chain synthetic polymers. Read the label, then judge the fibre: the entries on silk, polyester and recycled polyester cover their footprints. On durability, Betzina describes silk organza as strong despite its delicate look.