What is Medina silk? Feel, sheen and abaya use

Feel, sheen and weight

• Hand: very soft and smooth. It slides over other clothes instead of gripping them.
• Sheen: low. Most Medina silk is matte to softly lustrous, catching a little light on the folds without looking glossy.
• Weight: light to light-medium. It hangs close and flows, and does not hold a crisp shape.
• Opacity: dark colours are normally opaque in one layer. Pale colours need checking against daylight.
• Creasing: low. It packs well and recovers quickly.
• Static: its main weakness. In dry air or over synthetic underlayers it can crackle and cling.

Medina silk next to nida, zoom, satin and real silk

These are often shelved together, and the first three overlap.

• Nida: both are light polyester abaya cloths, and some sellers use the names almost interchangeably. Where a shop stocks both, Medina silk is generally the more fluid and silkier one, and nida has a little more body and a drier, more matte face. Our nida guide covers that fabric.
• Zoom: another loose trade name for a matte polyester abaya cloth, usually sold as a touch firmer and plainer. See what zoom fabric is.
• Satin: satin is a weave with a glossy face and a dull back. It shines strongly under light and shows every crease and water mark. Medina silk has far less shine and is less slippery to wear. See matte or shiny abaya fabric.
• Real silk: a natural protein fibre. It breathes and takes dye beautifully, but it marks with water, weakens with sunlight and sweat, and needs gentle care. Medina silk gives a similar flow in a cloth you can wash at home.

What it is like in an abaya

Because it is so fluid, Medina silk suits cuts that are meant to move: wide sleeves, closed pull-on shapes, butterfly abayas and anything with gathers. It is less suited to structured, coat-like shapes with sharp collars, which want a firmer cloth.

Two practical points. It is slippery to cut and sew, so narrow, neatly enclosed seams look better than bulky ones. And because it follows the body more than a firmer fabric does, a little extra ease keeps the outline loose; our article on how loose an abaya should be explains ease.

Care and static

Wash cool, inside out, by hand or on a gentle cycle, and hang to dry; it dries fast and seldom needs pressing. If it does, use a cool iron on the reverse or steam, since heat can glaze polyester. To calm static, wear a cotton or viscose layer underneath instead of another synthetic, avoid over-drying, and run a slightly damp hand down the inside of the abaya before you go out. The full routine is in how to wash an abaya.

Asking for this kind of cloth

We make abayas to measure in Pakistan, from the fabric agreed in your quote. If you like this kind of fabric, describe it on the quote form: soft, fluid, low sheen, washable. The fabric we propose appears in your written quote with photos. If you already own a length, choose Stitching Only and send pictures first; we confirm it suits the design and that the quantity is enough before you post it.