I was recently poking about on the New Crafthouse website, looking for inspiration, and saw a striped fabric that was gorgeous. It was a cloque fabric, and I realized that it’s one of those fabric types that not many people know much about.
With that in mind, I bought myself a short length of this textured type of fabric to make something for myself and thought I’d also take the time to explain what cloque fabric is and why you should consider using this type of fabric!
What Is Cloque Fabric?
Cloque fabric has been around since the 18th century. It is also known as clox or cloky and is an interesting textile with a raised crinkle like surface. It also feels quite light (at least the 100% polyester version I got does) and looks more expensive than it is.
The term ‘cloque’ is derived from the French word for ‘blistered’, which is kind of what the fabric looks like. It’s a woven fabric type, and is often made from yarns that have differing characteristics in order to achieve the look: yarn twist and fabric blends are common ways to achieve the blistered effect of cloque fabric.
The fabric I have in front of me while writing this is quite fun and unique, and despite it being 100% polyester, I can see why it is seeing a resurgence in popularity.
Appearance Of Cloque Fabric
As mentioned before, cloque has a puckered appearance to it, which is visible on both the wrong and right side of the fabric. This appearance – or texture for want of a better word – is created during the weaving process, which involves using warps and wefts that work against each other to create the textured effect. Similar to how other crepe fabrics are created!
I’m tempted to try and weave my own cloque-like fabric on my rigid heddle loom to see if I can achieve the same effect, but that would require me to get better at spinning both S and Z twist yarns first.
Caring For Cloque Fabric
How you care for this type of fabric depends largely on the fiber content. The one I have is polyester, so I feel it will be safe to wash on a cold temperature or hand wash setting, but I wouldn’t want to go too hot. If I were washing some cloque fabric made from silk, I’d be hand washing it only, just to be sure of not damaging the fabric. This is so that I do everything to help it retain the fun texture it’s known for.
What Is Cloque Fabric Used For?
I’m intending to use the piece of cloque fabric I bought to make a fun summer top. I should have bought more so that I could really use it for a summer skirt – I think it will look gorgeous as a short skirt with some gentle pleats, but alas, I only ordered a half meter, which isn’t enough to do much with if I’m honest.
You could use cloque fabric for a variety of garments, including:
- Blouses – I’m thinking big bishop sleeves and a pussy bow collar would look amazing!
- Dresses – again, the skirt of a dress could have some great folds at the waist
- Jackets – I think it would have to be a lightweight and unlined style to get the best look, I’m not yet sure how cloque fabric can handle interfacing, but will report back when I’ve tested it
- Skirts
It would probably work well for shorts and some styles of pants too, if you are someone who likes to get really creative!
How To Sew With Cloque Fabric
As this fabric is quite lightweight, I’ll be mindful of the needle size and the stitch length when sewing it, but there are other things to keep in mind too.
Seam Finishing
It doesn’t look like it will fray easily – my piece of cloque fabric has only a gentle fuzzing up from being moved around my work table and into and out of the storage box – so I can probably get away with either pinking or zigzag stitching the raw edge.
That said I’ll probably sew nice enclosed seams like a French seam to keep any possible fraying at bay.
Needle Size
I’ll be using a smaller needle than I usually do, probably the size 70/10 just to make sure that there are no holes visible after the seams are sewn.
Hem Type
I’m going to use a pin hem finish which I love to sew, so that I get maximum length from this piece of fabric. You could use single fold or double fold hem on cloque fabric if you prefer those.
Pressing
As the texture is a key element of this type of fabric, pressing should be done carefully. I’ll be using a lower heat setting as well as a pressing cloth when working with this piece of cloque fabric.
I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into cloque, I’ll pop back to update the article with photos of the finished garment once it’s completed so that you can see how it turned out and perhaps be inspired to make something yourself from cloque?
You could alo read up on sheer fabric types in the meantime to see if there’s any other lightweight fabrics that catch your eye?