What Is Cotton Sateen Fabric?

Cotton threads are mercerized to make sateen.

Cotton fabric comes in several varieties, which differ based on whether the fabric is woven or knit, as well as the type of weave used and fiber length. Cotton sateen is a woven fabric, usually made with mercerized threads.

Mercerized Threads

Mercerizing cotton threads involves soaking them in sodium hydroxide under tension, which causes the cells to swell. This process makes the threads strong, shiny and insures they will accept dye better than regular threads.

Weave

Manufacturers use a satin weave of mercerized cotton threads to produce sateen fabrics. Woven fabric consists of warp and weft threads. In a plain weave, the weft (horizontal) thread goes under and over each warp (vertical) thread. In a satin weave, the weft goes over several warp threads before going under.

Quality

Cotton sateen is very smooth to the touch, but more likely to snag, because there are more threads on the top surface of the fabric.

References

• Colette Patterns: Cotton Sateen
• Hands On Crafts: Weaving
• Fiber Arts: Mercerized Cotton