What's the difference between silk fabrics and their cheaper counterparts?

I'm interested in how exactly some fabrics are different when made of silk, cotton or synthetic fibers (what is commonly used) in the way they look, hang and sew. Specifically:


Velvet


Satin


Taffeta


Chiffon





Local stores just don't have the range of products I'd need to try it myself.|||Silk is a natural fiber spun by silk worms. Cotton grows in bolls on cotton plants. Polyester is made from petroleum. Silk and cotton breathe, most polys don't although there are some exceptions with the newer microfibers. Velvet is rarely made of 100% silk anymore, although you can find some silk/rayon blends. Most velvets for are now made from rayon, which is a cellulose fiber derived from some trees and other natural sources. Cotton velvet is called velveteen, cotton satin is called sateen. The "een" refers to cotton. Cottons are less slippery than silks and blends, but any pile fabric requires skill and special care to sew. Taffetas are usually made from either silk or poly. There is a more subtle tissue quality to silk taffeta, but both have a rustle and can work for evening wear. Again, any slippery fabric requires more sewing skill. Silk chiffon is more airy than poly, and sewing it can be like sewing air. It is not a fabric for a beginner!! Poly satins are commonly used in evening wear and they are perfectly acceptable, but are less supple than silk satins. Polyesters and cottons do not water spot if they get damp or wet in just one area, silk does, so a non-drip iron is essential for pressing silk. Silks can be washed before cutting is you want to "suede" the finish, but they still water spot unless fully emersed.





You should try to find a designer fabric store in a larger city and visit it to look at a wider variety of fabrics some time soon. There is no substitute for actually feeling the difference.|||Price, durability, washability, wrinkling, snobbery. All the major issues needed to consider one fabric over another. To me, how a fabric looks, hangs and sews is good info to have, for clothing design school. More important is how is it going to do on a real person, going about their life,and will real person buy the article of clothes.



In my experiences with silk as opposed to other materials that look and act like it, except that they are not as fragile, all have done well. I had a couple "washable silk" blouses {that phrase translates into the material was a blend]. they were, and still are, beautiful. People think they are silk, and say so. My silk blouse hung and draped wonderfully, so did the silk blend. So did the polyester copy. All three survive, the silk one looks a trifle worse for wear.



Lets face it, polyester does not wrinkle like other fabrics do. Other synthetics do wrinkle, just not as much as silk. And you just can't wash silk without staining it.



It all depends on what you specifically want the fabric to do. I listened to a bride on one of those bride shows try to pick out a gown. She liked a silk one. And I heard the sales person tell her that the dress was not practical to put in a bag and take it on a plane half way across the country to the site of her wedding. It would wrinkle. That comment was not lost on me.

Cotton fibers stand the test of time, it wrinkles. Cotton can stand up to, depending on how it is woven, to washing and bleaching.

lycra does not stand up or wear well, it eventually crumples up and gets sticky. .

Silk is classy and sought after. It is snobby to say "it's silk" people like to say that.



Anything slick/shiny is hard to sew on, it slides around on the sewing machine. And silk is not forgiving of having to pin it, handle it in order to get it sewn. And it does not do well with an iron. Silk is a light airy material, and is harder to sew and handle than it is if it is blended, or compared to polyester. I think that silk is lighter in weight than a lot of things.



Sorry could not help more.|||I frequently buy white silk by the yard from Dharma Trading Co. online and dye it myself. Before ordering the first time, I ordered a sample pack of swatches of the silks they offer. For a very low cost (right now it's $6.99) you get about 36 different 4" sample swatches carded and named, so that you know what you are ordering. It is a great way to see, feel and gauge the different silks, and decide what to buy. It won't let you judge draping, but I have no problem with how any of their silks drape.