Tips for stitching a beautiful silk dress...
I love stitching with silks, whenever I have a bit of a 'do' to stitch for I like to buy some posh material and make up a dress that really deserves to have the time and love stitched into it.
So many fabrics these days are poor quality, you can just feel the print and weave is hard and scratchy and not nice against your skin. So to work with silks that are beautiful, natural and drape wonderfully is such a joy. You pay a bit more but it is really worth it.
It is not all plain sailing as they can be a bit of a mare so here is are a few tips I have picked up along the way...
Make sure your sewing machine is set to the right tension for a silk. Adjust both your top and bottom tensions so that the fabric doesn't pull or when the seam is stretched the stitch doesn't show. This is called 'grin through' like the seam has big teeth grinning at you!
Use a test scrap first and sew your fabric with the thread you will use for the project. Make sure your stitch is right before you start to sew.
Use a light weight interfacing if your silk is light weight. You don't want the interfacing to pull!
Try stitching with a ball point needle and use a 80 max to stitch with.
If your fabric is super delicate stitch with tissue paper and then pull off the tissue at the end of the project. The seams will not pucker with the tissue.
Try and not unpick - silk is not that forgiving, if you have to try and steam over the unpicked stitched to make the fabric fall back to it's original weave.
I always wash silk by hand washing and then putting it in a plastic bag and putting it in the freezer! The water is frozen off and you just then shake off the ice when taking it out the freezer and hey presto no watermarks. Try it, it really does work.
Try and handle as lightly as possible, stitching and handling and cause your fabric to fray!
Baby Dress...
This dress for baby was made from silk taffeta with a gathered skirt on a lined bodice. The bodice was finished with a bias binding to trap in the oh so frayed silk to make it lye flat against the baby.
The skirt was given some fullness with self coloured net gathered to the under petticoat. An extra inverted pleat was added to the centre front to add decoration and also a bit more room if baby had a growth spurt in the two weeks I set to make it in!
I hope I have inspired you to try working with silk, I pay about £10 - £15 per metre for my fabric no more.
Try it and let me know how you get on..
Happy Stitching, Sam x
I love stitching with silks, whenever I have a bit of a 'do' to stitch for I like to buy some posh material and make up a dress that really deserves to have the time and love stitched into it.
So many fabrics these days are poor quality, you can just feel the print and weave is hard and scratchy and not nice against your skin. So to work with silks that are beautiful, natural and drape wonderfully is such a joy. You pay a bit more but it is really worth it.
It is not all plain sailing as they can be a bit of a mare so here is are a few tips I have picked up along the way...
Make sure your sewing machine is set to the right tension for a silk. Adjust both your top and bottom tensions so that the fabric doesn't pull or when the seam is stretched the stitch doesn't show. This is called 'grin through' like the seam has big teeth grinning at you!
Use a test scrap first and sew your fabric with the thread you will use for the project. Make sure your stitch is right before you start to sew.
Use a light weight interfacing if your silk is light weight. You don't want the interfacing to pull!
Try stitching with a ball point needle and use a 80 max to stitch with.
If your fabric is super delicate stitch with tissue paper and then pull off the tissue at the end of the project. The seams will not pucker with the tissue.
Try and not unpick - silk is not that forgiving, if you have to try and steam over the unpicked stitched to make the fabric fall back to it's original weave.
I always wash silk by hand washing and then putting it in a plastic bag and putting it in the freezer! The water is frozen off and you just then shake off the ice when taking it out the freezer and hey presto no watermarks. Try it, it really does work.
Try and handle as lightly as possible, stitching and handling and cause your fabric to fray!
Baby Dress...
This dress for baby was made from silk taffeta with a gathered skirt on a lined bodice. The bodice was finished with a bias binding to trap in the oh so frayed silk to make it lye flat against the baby.
The skirt was given some fullness with self coloured net gathered to the under petticoat. An extra inverted pleat was added to the centre front to add decoration and also a bit more room if baby had a growth spurt in the two weeks I set to make it in!
I hope I have inspired you to try working with silk, I pay about £10 - £15 per metre for my fabric no more.
Try it and let me know how you get on..
Happy Stitching, Sam x
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