Date: 10/24/08 12:50 PM

I just bought 3 metres of cupro lining at a deep discount and it's a completely new fabric to me. I'm not finding much about it on here or other sewing forums, so I was wondering if anyone had used it before and what to expect...?

Things like: does it breathe like regular cotton? Does it shrink? Does it press well? Is it a strong weave? Any special needles or feet recommended? Likes/dislikes?

My initial impressions are pretty impressive - apparently it's 100% cotton but it feels like a silky taffeta as far as I can see, but I've not had a chance to sew with it yet.

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www.fehrtrade.com

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Reply to squirrellypoo
Date: 10/24/08 12:56 PM

Are you sure it is cotton? I always thought Cupro was rayon. I think you would use it like any bemberg rayon.

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Date: 10/24/08 1:10 PM

All I know is what Google has come up with, and all those sites are saying it's cotton...?

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www.fehrtrade.com

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Reply to squirrellypoo
Date: 10/24/08 4:07 PM

I made a dress quite a few years ago now with Cupro. It was for a lady who had bought Prima mag. with a pattern in it ( as they used to ) and the suggested fabric was Cupro from Maculloch & Wallis . It was gorgeous, not unlike Tencil that came out later. I remember that it puckered very easily down the seams and did not press well. However with lots of TLC it was OK and with your experience I'm sure it will be OK. I wouldn't treat it as a cotton - more like a silk IMHO. I havn't seen any for ages. Would be interested to see how you get on !

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Date: 10/24/08 4:57 PM

huh, well I'll be - McC&W still stock Cupro, I never noticed! Thanks very much for the tip on the puckering - sounds like I'll be breaking out the microtex sharps. :)

(and Prima still have patterns - you just have to ring up to get them posted if you buy them at the newsagents. I made one this spring!)

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www.fehrtrade.com

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Date: 10/24/08 5:49 PM

I found this definition on the internet for cupro.

Quote:

Cupro is the European cousin of tencel, and it is a bit difficult to find a lot of information on this fabric. Cupro is somewhat similar to rayon in that it is reprocessed cellulose, but cupro is much more like tencel: Please see the Tencel main page for general information on this fiber. Cupro gets its name from cuprammonium that is used to process the wood pulp or cotton linters that are the base material for cupro. Like tencel, the base material for cupro is a regenerated cellulose fiber, and the fabric breathes like cotton, drapes beautifully, and feels like silk on your skin. An elegant fabric. Cupro is not synthetic, nor is it a man-made fabric. It is considered a regenerated fabric, in other words, it is reclaimed from natural products.

I was interested to find out because I have some cupro fabric in my stash and wasn't quite sure what it was when I bought it, I just liked the way it drapes and handles.

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Reply to squirrellypoo
Date: 10/24/08 6:10 PM

Ambiance lining is the same what we in Europe call Bemberg lining . it is a great lining feels very soft like silk and ravels a lot and is slippery to cut but wonderful against your skin.
Sewing with a microtex needle size 60 or 70 .

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http://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/

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Date: 10/24/08 7:30 PM

According to the 8th Edition of Textiles, a college textbook by Kadolf and Langford:

Bemberg is the trademark for Cupro. Apparently, the cupro process is no longer used in the United states--too toxic.

Cupro is the process that was used for all rayons when rayon was first developed. It dates back to the 1890s when it sas discovered that cellulose fibers could be dissolved in a cuprammonium solution. (previous attempts to process wood pulp into fabric fibers were explosively flammable.) All rayons are made from re-processed cellulose fibers (usually wood pulp.) Regular rayons are also called Viscose. Viscose rayon uses different chemicals in the processing which produces a filament that takes a better "crimp" than the cupro. Cupro used to be marketed as artificial silk. Viscose rayons were developed to mimic linen and crepe--fabrics with high "twist" filaments.

Modal & Lyocell are other types of rayons that use various different & less toxic chemical and physical processes to re-process the cellulose/wood pulp into filaments. Tencel is a trademark for Lyocell. The fibers are more like cotton fibers than the other rayons--longer and stronger with a soft drape.

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I am going for a level of perfection that is only mine... Most of the pleasure is in getting that last little piece perfect...Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just keep showing up and doing the work.

Chuck Close, painter, printmaker, photographer

Hope has two lovely daughters: Anger and Courage

St. Augustine

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Reply to squirrellypoo
Date: 10/24/08 9:02 PM

Cupro is rayon.

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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com

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Reply to squirrellypoo
Date: 10/24/08 9:51 PM

It bears the same relationship to cotton that sucralose sweetener has with sugar. Run cotton through a chemical process, and you end up with the rayon. Cupramonium rayon production stopped in this country about 30 years ago because of environmental problems with the plants. Apparently there are special concerns that they didn't want to deal with.

It's silky, and ravels like crazy. Makes a great lining. Has good thermal conductance, so it feels cool to the touch.

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