Printing and finishing all carried out in-house.
Optional care label hand sewn into the seam.
Each scarf is pressed and packed in a clear cellophane bag for shipping.
When you select our scarf printing and hemming service our team of in-house experienced seamstresses will take meticulous care throughout the process. Their attention to detail makes each scarf unique.
If you are interested in using our scarf printing and hemming service we can offer a variety of finishes. So that you can tie or wrap the scarf as you wish, choose the option best suited to your design to create a neat and elegant edge.
If you would like to use our printing and hemming service then please request hemming when you place your scarf print order. We cannot accept returned unfinished scarves after an order has been shipped!
Get in-touch for our current turnaround times as these do vary throughout the year.
Your artwork will need to take into consideration the amount that will be lost within the hem line. The hemming allowance does differ depending on the type of hemming you have selected. Check each hemming type below for the allowance required.
The scarves will be returned to you with finished edges, including your label and a fabric care label sewn in, where available and if requested.
All our 100% silk scarves include an optional care label, hand sewn into the seam.
The care label will say ‘Dry Clean Only – Made in the UK’ and include the composition of the fabric type.
If you have asked to have your own label sewn onto the scarf then please remember to send your labels with the order. If you would like them sewn into a particular position then please include a diagram of where this should be. Labels will normally be placed 3–7cm away from corners on scarves, unless otherwise instructed.
Each scarf is pressed and packed in a clear cellophane bag. The bags are great for protecting the scarves during shipment and storage. You can then choose to package the product yourself, or to sell it as is.
If you have selected Silk Twill 14mm, 16mm Silk Satin, Silk Twill 18mm or Silk Wool Fine Rib as your scarf fabric, you now have the option of choosing double sided printing. Read more…
To order – please check the ‘Do you require double sided printing?’ box, that will appear after selecting the fabric, when submitting your order.
A minimum of 1cm is needed within the design size as your hemming allowance on all four sides of the scarf to achieve a standard machine finish. That is 1cm at the top, 1cm at the bottom, 1cm on the left side and 1cm on the right side.
Please note that on all Pin Hemmed scarves the machine stitch runs over all four corners and is therefore a faster service.
This style of hemming provides a consistent, flat edge. Hemming is always carried out using a matching thread as close to the design colours within the scarf as possible, unless otherwise requested.
Don’t forget to add a 1mm cutting line between designs if submitting multiple scarves within the same artwork.
A minimum of 1.5cm is needed within the design size as your hemming allowance on all four sides of the scarf to achieve a standard roll finish. That is 1.5cm at the top, 1.5cm at the bottom, 1.5cm on the left side and 1.5cm on the right side.
Please note that on all Roll scarves there are elements of hand finishing involved. We always hand roll the corners, fix any slipped stitches and sew in labels by hand. These personal touches do create longer lead times for all orders, particularly for orders of over 50 units.
Hemming is always carried out using a matching thread as close to the design colours within the scarf as possible, unless otherwise requested.
NOTE: Hand Finished Roll hemming is not suitable on a scarf that has an angled hem.
You do not need to add a border to your scarf unless you want to. It is not a Silk Bureau requirement.
We strongly advise against rolled coloured edge hemming on the Roll option. Due to the nature of the fabric and how it moves whilst printing and processing, there may be an irregular line and visible hem stitching from the front side. If there hasn’t been enough allowance left, we cannot be held responsible for the lack of consistency of the line.
We do recommend that you source independent hand rolled hemming for this type of finish.
Don’t forget to add a 1mm cutting line between designs if submitting multiple scarves within the same artwork.
We cannot fringe all fabrics, please check prior to ordering.
To fringe a scarf, a single thread is pulled through the weave to provide a straight guide. The rest of the threads are then carefully removed to create a neat fringe.
In cases where the fabric is just slightly off the grain, it will be evident in relation to a solid border. A constant depth of fringe can only be achieved by cutting into the thread repeatedly along its length. However, this staggered line may not be attractive.
The Pin Hem and Eyelash Fringe options can be combined on a scarf. This is particularly effective on a long scarf where fringes are added on opposite short ends and pin hems on opposite long sides.
Combine the fringe hem with a pin hem along the longer side of your scarf.
Combine the fringe hem with a roll hem along the longer side of your scarf.
If you would like a deeper fringe, please let us know when ordering. Unless otherwise specified, we will fringe to 1cm depth.
You should not add a cutting line for the edges that require a fringe. You should only add a cutting line for the edges that are to be pin hemmed or roll hemmed.
This method of finish is best suited to an overall design that runs from edge to edge. This will avoid obvious signs of skew that may occur in the fabric.
We recommend that you do not use a narrow border in your design when using this method of finishing. Eyelash Fringing is a very delicate technique that requires your design to align to the warp and weft of the fabric. As this is an extremely difficult and precise position at the printing stage and is virtually impossible to achieve.
If you would like a border, it should be at least 5cm deep. By adding a deeper border at the edges, you will get a more visually satisfying result and provide more tolerance for cutting and hemming.
Getting the weave of the fabric exactly square is practically impossible. Having a border around the edge of the scarf will emphasize the skew of the fabric. Borders look great on machine hem finishes, but not fringed ones. Our video for best practice highlights the issues. See Common Faults on our FAQ’s page.
If you select an eyelash fringe finish for your scarf, please remember to place your signature or logo at least 5cm from the edge of your design.
Whether you choose a single-bagged or double-bagged option, these double-sided scarves are a substantial alternative to the traditional scarf.
We recommend an allowance of 1cm on four sides of a design. The design is folded in half with the patterned side together. The three open sides are sewn, leaving a small gap at one end, creating a bag! This is then turned through the opening and either hand finished or machine straight stitched to close.
The scarf is then pressed to provide a knife edge finish.
We recommend an allowance of 1cm on all four sides of both front and back designs for this type of finished scarf.
With the design sides facing each other, all four sides are sewn together with a straight stitch leaving a small gap at one end, creating a bag! This is then turned through the opening and either hand finished or machine straight stitched to close.
The scarf is then pressed on both sides to provide a knife edge finish.
An angled hem line on a bagged scarf can look particularly stylish.
It is really important that you show a clear cut line for the angle that you require. Better still, simply produce the artwork as print-ready with clear angles.
Be aware how you place any signature or logo in this area! Will it get cropped in the hem?
Our seamstresses have an expert knowledge of all our fabrics and how each can best be hemmed. But, not all fabrics are suitable for all of our hemming options. When using our scarf printing and hemming service, please see which fabrics are best for which finishes.
| Fabric | Weight | Pin Hem | HF Roll | Eyelash fringe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silk Satin 10 | 43 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Chiffon 10 | 43 | ✓ | X | X |
| Silk Light Satin | 54 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Triple Georgette | 82 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Dupion | 54 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Chiffon 6 | 26 | ✓ | X | X |
| Silk Double Georgette | 70 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Satin | 70 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Single Georgette | 43 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Twill | 61 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Twill 18 | 80 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Satin Chiffon | 39 | ✓ | X | X |
| Silk Habotai | 43 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Light Crepe de Chine | 43 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silk Sandwashed Habotai | 70 | ✓ | X | X |
| Silk Light Twill | 43 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Crepe De Chine | 61 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silcott Habotai | 59 | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| Silcott Voile | 39 | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| Silcott Light Satin | 54 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Silcott Heavy Satin | 122 | ✓ | X | X |
| Silk Modal | 56 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silk Wool Fine Rib | 57 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wool Fino | 55 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cotton Summerset | 80 | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| Cotton Vera | 42 | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| GOTS ECO Cotton Voile | 85 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| GOTS ECO Optic Cotton Poplin | 136 | ✓ | X | X |
| GOTS ECO Cotton Twill | 155 | ✓ | X | X |
| GOTS ECO Cotton Light Twill | 120 | ✓ | X | X |
| ECO Cotton Hemp Fine Slub | 152 | ✓ | X | X |
| Poly Spandex Crepe | 153 | ✓ | X | X |
| Poly Lurex | 68 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Crepe De Chine | 85 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Satin | 110 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Chiff Sat | 90 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Chiffon | 48 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Jacquard Spot | 78 | ✓ | X | X |
| Poly Organza | 65 | ✓ | X | X |
| Poly Volume Flat | 156 | ✓ | X | X |
| Poly Volume Mouseline | 70 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Poly Volume Habotai | 80 | ✓ | X | X |
| FR Contract Organza | 50 | ✓ | X | X |
| FR Contract Voile | 70 | ✓ | X | X |
| Regenesis Crepe De Chine | 100 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Regenesis Chiffon | 98 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Regenesis Light Satin | 90 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Regenesis Twill | 96 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Regenesis Habotai | 80 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| GOTS ECO Silk Crepe de Chine | 61 | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| GOTS ECO Silk Twill | 61 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
If an even reverse colour is important on your scarves, it is best to select a lighter weight fabric from our range. By having a loose weave and a thinner fabric, the colour will penetrate the fibres onto the reverse side of the scarf better.
If you have chosen either our Silk Twill 14mm or Silk Satin 16mm fabric for your scarves you may also select our double-sided print service. This will give full colour printing on both sides of the fabric.
Popular fabric choices are Light Satin, Single Georgette, Habotai and Light Crepe de Chine and Twill. Our suggested fabrics have been chosen for their good colour penetration and drape when worn.
Our experienced print operators are practised in getting some pretty tricky fabric weaves to print very straight, however, silk is a natural fabric and the weave is sometimes irregular, especially on finer fabrics. This can occasionally be further distorted during the coating of the fabric. As the fabric comes directly off a roll, it is fed onto the printer and adheres to a permanent adhesive belt, at this stage the fabric cannot be manipulated or adjusted.
Prints, which have borders and straight lines are more at risk of distortion through weave movement than ones with all over patterns. Think about how you use borders and geometric designs within your artwork.
This is more likely to occur with lighter weight fabrics, like Chiffon, whose weft can vary dramatically throughout a roll.
During the digital textile printing process shrinkage occurs. This can vary according to fabric type and the processes involved in production.
When we know that your fabric order is intended for make scarves, we will pass it through our Stenter to bring it as close as possible to the original size of the artwork. You should plan on this additional step taking a little longer even if you are not using our scarf printing and hemming service.
Here are some best practices to consider when designing for a scarf.
Of course the size and dimension will dictate much of your design but also think about the finished article.
Clear answers to all these questions will help you and us achieve the best results.
Not a good idea. Digital printing does not suit a block colour design, but it does suit multi-patterned, multi-coloured design. The slightest ink spot on a plain background (coloured or white) will be clearly visible and spoil the whole scarf. If your design contains block colour you will be asked to accept the risks involved. Although we take every precaution to avoid this happening, we cannot guarantee that one of the printing nozzles won’t release a tiny drop of ink, which would be very obvious on a block colour.
The majority of our fabrics have a printable width of 136cm for scarves. If you choose to include a border this must also be within the 136cm width. When you are designing your artwork for printing take this into consideration in order to maximise the use of the fabric and minimise waste.
See diagram below. If you are combining several scarves into one canvas only leave a 1mm cutting gap between the scarves as we use a ‘hot wire’ cutting machine to separate the scarves. See ‘Adding a cut line’ hint.
By incorporating a larger area of colour at the edges of your scarves you can still create an effective border that will give more tolerance for cutting and hemming.
It’s a good idea to place your signature within the design of your scarf in case the label is cut out. After all, you want to receive the credit just like any artist does!
Its placement is important – don’t put it so close to the edge of your artwork that it gets caught up in the hemming. We recommend a minimum of 2.5cm from the edge of your design and 5cm if you’re having fringe hemming.
We include free care labels with our scarf hemming service. These fabric care labels are hand sewn into the hem of your finished scarf. Dry clean only – Made in the UK will appear on the label.
If you would like to send us your own name or care label then please do so at the time of ordering. As part of the scarf printing and hemming service, we will hand sew these into the hem of your scarves.
If you would like to have your labels sewn in a particular position on your scarf, please include a drawn diagram with approximate measurements. We will hand sew labels 3-7cm away from a corner, unless otherwise instructed.
Borders can look great on a scarf. They can act as a frame around the artwork.
As straight lines and geometric shapes can be an issue in digital textile printing, so too can borders. Why not try a patterned border instead of a plain one?
If you would like to include a border on your scarves, please allow for the hemming. Remember we will need at least 1cm for the hem and so your border should never be less than 2cm. For a more dramatic border, make it even deeper.
If you have chosen a white border for your scarves, please be aware that we can only offer the Hand Finished Roll Hem or Fringe hem types. To define the edges of the white border of your scarf, please use either a pale cream or pale grey outline. A darker line will show through the finished hem.
The total surface area of your scarf may include slight anomalies associated with the process of digital textile printing.
Minor inclusions such as ink spots, water marks, loose threads, slubs, wavy lines, thread rotation and surface lint within the printed area will be considered as acceptable by Quality Control. We will not approve any print that we consider contains large inclusions. These will have been rejected and reprinted prior to dispatch.
The Silk Bureau Ltd will always endeavour to produce printed fabrics of the highest quality but cannot be held responsible for any weave quality issues that originate with our suppliers. Any irregularities and variations in the weave of our fabrics are not to be considered as defects. They are characteristics of a natural fibre.
Please examine the fabrics carefully before processing your scarves. Direct or indirect claims for any reason whatsoever will not be accepted once the customer, or any party acting upon their instructions, has cut, or processed the fabric in any way.
Please remember to include a 1mm space between your scarf files to show a clear cutting line. This is particularly important if you have included white borders. Please use a pale grey or cream cut line so that it does not show on your scarves.
We strongly recommend that you do not have a white border on scarves that require Machine Pin Hem finishing. As we use a hot wire to cut out all your scarves it may leave a visible ‘burn’ line within the folded hem.
© The Silk Bureau Limited 2024
The processes involved in digital textile printing causes the original fabric to shrink. If you are printing scarves, the size of the finished product will be important to you. For example, if you have square artwork, you will be expecting your finished scarf to be square!
To get the printed fabric closer to the size you need, all fabric intended for scarves must go through an extra step to reshape it. Please allow extra time on your deadlines to allow for this process.
Let us introduce you to the …
The stenter is an enormous piece of machinery that has many uses, including coating our fabrics and reshaping scarf orders.
After travelling through a solution to soften the fabric, it then passes over a flat bed, gripped on the selvedge edges to pull it back into shape.
It’s a long and precise process that needs to be carefully monitored.
If you have selected to use our hemming service, we will check the stentered fabric for you before we begin to finish your scarves. If you are not using our service, it’s up to you to check the size BEFORE you cut out the individual scarves from the fabric length. We cannot re-size after your scarves have been cut out.
