Lightweight Crepe Fabric

Despite being a medium weight fabric, Butterfly Smooth is an incredibly lightweight crepe fabric. It has a subtle crepe sheen and is perfect for floaty garments. With a beautiful drape and soft, smooth surface this light crepe fabric is perfect for floaty skirts and dresses as well as summer wear. Custom made with your design printed in beautiful permanent print, this is a great material for your next project or garment.

Surface textures

Butterfly Smooth Crepe has an elegant drape, and a lightweight crepe fabric feel. It is incredibly soft and has the same texture on both sides. It has a subtle crepe sheen, and feels cool but not cold. With a floaty air to it, the light crepe fabric lends itself to summery garments, or dresses and skirts of a floaty nature.

Print detail

The base tone of the fabric is a brilliant white. Fine lines and details show up beautifully when printed on the Butterfly Smooth Crepe. Bright colors contrast well with the base tones and appear rich and full. The print can be seen on the reverse of the fabric at a heavily reduced opacity.

Usage

Expertly selected for floaty garments, the Butterfly Smooth Crepe is perfect for skirts and dresses, as well as summer wear. Recommended for use when trying to achieve that lightweight, cool feeling as well as that elegant floaty drape.

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

Is this fabric easy to care for?

As this light crepe fabric is made from 100% poly, it benefits from some easy care characteristics. It is completely machine washable at 30°C, and can even be tumble dried if necessary on a low heat. We would, however, recommend hanging it to dry, and as it is so lightweight it won't take long at all to dry.

Does this material crease easily?

Not only does the Butterfly Smooth Crepe not crease easily, but should you find the need you can iron it on a low heat. It is an incredibly smooth, non-stretch material and has a flowy drape. This moves with you rather than against, and as you become still the fabric cascades naturally and elegantly to the floor, causing little to no creasing.

What can I make with this fabric?

The Butterfly Smooth Crepe is incredibly versatile and can be used for any number of things. It has been expertly selected for floaty garments such as dresses and skirts, but would also work extremely well with summer garments such as blouses and t-shirts, as well as a pair of lightweight, tailored trousers.