How is Seersucker made?

Seersucker is woven as a slack-tension plain weave.

Plate No. 010fabric

The classic summer-suit stripe.

First documented: c. 1700s
Origin: South Asia, India
Fiber: cotton
Weave: slack-tension plain weave
Family: stripes

Plate No. 010 · fabric

Seersucker

Seersucker is a cotton fabric whose puckered stripes are woven, not printed, by holding some warp threads slack while others are taut. The raised stripes lift the cloth off the skin, which is why it became summer suiting in hot climates and a fixture of the American South. The pucker survives washing because it is structural rather than a finish.

Illustration: a New Orleans veranda on a hot afternoon in the 1920s, a pale striped summer suit jacket over a wicker chair, sweating glass of iced tea on a side table, ceiling fan, deep shade and bright street beyond — A New Orleans veranda on a hot afternoon in the 1920s, a pale striped summer suit jacket over a wicker chair, sweating glass of iced tea on a side table, ceiling fan, deep shade and bright street beyond.

Named for

From the Persian shir o shakkar, milk and sugar, by way of Hindi, describing the cloth's smooth and puckered stripes side by side.

Common questions

What is Seersucker made of?: Seersucker is a cotton fabric whose puckered stripes are woven, not printed, by holding some warp threads slack while others are taut.
How is Seersucker made?: Seersucker is woven as a slack-tension plain weave.
What is Seersucker named after?: From the Persian shir o shakkar, milk and sugar, by way of Hindi, describing the cloth's smooth and puckered stripes side by side.