What is zoom fabric? An abaya fabric explained

How zoom usually feels and behaves

• Fibre: polyester, sometimes with a little elastane for give. Ask the seller, since it is rarely printed on the roll.
• Surface: fine and matte, smooth to the hand with a very slight grain. It has none of the gloss of satin.
• Weight: light enough for a single-layer abaya, often with a touch more body than the thinnest nida.
• Drape: it falls in soft vertical folds and swings when you walk.
• Creasing: low. It comes out of a bag or off a car seat with few marks, which is why it is popular for daily wear.
• Care: it washes at home in cool water and dries quickly. Like any polyester, it dislikes a hot iron.

Zoom, nida and crepe side by side

All three names are used loosely, so treat this as a description of the typical cloth, not a rule.

• Zoom vs nida: the two are close cousins, and some sellers use the names for near-identical rolls. Where sellers do draw a line, nida is usually described as the finer and silkier of the two, sometimes with a faint lustre, and zoom as plainer, fully matte and a shade firmer. Read more in what nida fabric is.
• Zoom vs crepe: crepe has a distinctly pebbled, grainy surface from tightly twisted yarns, and medium or heavy crepes have more weight and swing. Zoom is smoother and usually lighter. See our crepe abaya guide.
• Choosing between them: pick by weight and surface, not by name. For heat, the lightest opaque cloth wins. For a dressier hang, go heavier.

Is zoom fabric good for summer?

In a light weight and a loose cut, yes, with one caveat. Polyester does not absorb moisture, so zoom will never feel as fresh against damp skin as cotton or linen. What it offers is thinness, quick drying and a hem that still looks neat at the end of a hot day. In dry heat and air-conditioned buildings that is a fair trade. In heavy humidity, wear a thin cotton layer underneath or look at the natural fibres in our guide to abaya fabrics for Gulf summer heat.

How to judge a piece sold as zoom

Buying online, ask for a short video in daylight of the cloth being lifted and dropped. Buying in person, five quick tests and one question tell you more than the label.

• Hand: rub it between finger and thumb. Good cloth feels even and soft, not papery or plasticky.
• Light: hold one layer up to a window with your hand behind it. You should see a shadow at most.
• Crush: squeeze a handful for ten seconds. The creases should fall out almost at once.
• Stretch: pull gently across the width. A little give is normal; a lot points to added stretch fibre or a knitted cloth, which hangs and sews differently.
• Static: run it over your sleeve. Cloth that crackles and clings in the shop will cling to your clothes.
• Ask: the fibre content, the width of the roll and, if the seller knows it, the weight.

Asking for it in an abaya

We make abayas to measure from the fabric agreed in your quote. With Fabric + Stitching, tell us you like the zoom type of fabric, matte, light and easy to wash, and the fabric we propose is shown in your written quote. With Stitching Only, buy the zoom you like, send photos through the Stitching Only quote form, and we confirm that it suits your design and that there is enough before you post it. Our page on choosing fabric explains both routes.