Jersey fabric guide
Jersey Dress Design with AI
For a jersey dress, most mills quote viscose jersey at 160 to 220 g/m²: a classic pairing.
Of the 14 cloths this guide lists for this cut, it sits between silk and viscose velvet and lightweight denim in weight.
Next to silk and viscose velvet, it is heavier, more matte, cooler to wear and easier to care for.
Jersey Dress at a glance
- Cloth to ask your mill for
- Viscose jersey
- Typical weight
- 160 to 220 g/m²
- Drape
- Soft
- Stretch
- Moderate
- Breathability
- Medium
- Warmth
- Neutral
- Care
- Machine wash cold, inside out
- How common
- A classic pairing
- Typical cloth price
- $5-15/yard
Typical trade ranges, not one mill's figures: confirm them with your mill.
The dress, in numbers
- Typical length
- 90 to 120 cm, from the high point of the shoulder
- Defining details
- Waist seam or princess seams, neckline, sleeve, zip or buttons
- Cloth needed
- about 2.0 to 3.0 m of 150 cm cloth, roughly $11 to $49 of cloth at typical prices
Typical figures for an adult size M. The pattern tier is set from the real piece count when you order.
How jersey behaves on a dress
Cut into dresses, it skims rather than clings, and gathers, pleats and wrap fronts settle without stiffness.
At this length a soft cloth moves gently at the hem and falls in loose folds.
It is neither warm nor cool, so it works across most of the year.
Wash it cold and inside out to keep the color.
It hardly creases, but a light jersey can twist after washing and bag at the knees and elbows.
About jersey
Jersey is knitted, not woven: rows of interlocking loops that stretch in every direction. It is knitted in cotton, viscose, wool, silk and blends, often with elastane.
Jersey is knitted on circular machines almost everywhere; the yarn and the gauge decide its quality more than the place.
It is rarely lined; a second layer of the same jersey is used where a lining would be.
Cutting, sewing and color
A ballpoint or stretch needle and a stretch stitch or an overlock; let the cloth relax for a day before cutting.
It takes dye evenly and prints well, though stretch can thin the color at knees and elbows.
Its surface is matte, so it photographs evenly under flat light.
A description to start from
A dress in viscose jersey, 160 to 220 g/m², with a soft drape and a matte surface, for most of the year.
If jersey is not quite right
- Lighter: Velvet, in silk and viscose velvet
- Heavier: Denim, in lightweight denim
- More structure: Linen, in midweight linen
Also: how the studio works, prices and questions and answers.
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