Earlier this year I went to the Liberty fabric outlet sale and treated myself to this beautiful retro patterned silk - and then was too scared to cut into it for months! I'd never worked with silk and didn't know if I'd ever own a piece of Liberty silk again so talked myself into a tiz. Why do we sewists put such pressure on ourselves to make something that's perfect?
I decided (eventually) that this fabric was too beautiful to stay hidden in a drawer and that if I sewed with care and did lots of research, I would do it justice even if it wasn't perfect. I made a short robe / jacket, based on the Helen's Closet robe pattern as I already had it in my collection. This has now been removed from the Helen's Closet website (more info here) but the Sew Over It Sylvia Robe is a close match if you're looking for a similar pattern. So, after lots of research, tips from Lauren from Guthrie and Ghani during her weekly sewing Instagram Live (it's so full of lovely fabrics and great advice, if you've never joined one please do!) and trial and error, here's what I learned:
1. Cutting out
Silk is slippery! I found that weights didn't hold the fabric in place, so I used fine pins. I pinned the two selvedges together to stop it moving, and I also placed a layer of tissue paper between the fabric which really helped to give it some grip. My rotary cutter worked well but I made sure I had a new blade.
2. Sewing
I used a microtext needle, but still found at first that the fabric was gathering up as I sewed as you can see in the picture. Fiddling with tension and stitch length didn't help, so in the end I asked Lauren from Guthrie & Ghani for advice during her Monday evening Instagram Live and she suggested placing a sheet of tissue paper either under the fabric as I sewed a single layer (see picture below), or between two layers if sewing two pieces together. This worked brilliantly - thanks Lauren!
The tissue paper I used wasn't special, it was left over from an online fabric delivery. But it made all the difference! Once sewn, you just tear away the tissue paper like you're tearing a leaf out of a notepad.
I found that reducing the stitch length to 2 also helped give a more even finish.
3. Seams
I used French Seams throughout, partly because I wanted the jacket to look lovely on the inside, and partly because the silk frayed A LOT. I did try a test piece in my overlocker but the fabric was far too delicate and it left lumpy seams. Note to self - remember to trim down your seam allowance as I forgot on one sleeve and now have tiny whiskers sticking out which are really hard to remove afterwards and really irritating!
4. Hems
I planned to hand sew a rolled hem at the bottom, but after watching many Youtube videos and after many, many attempts I just couldn't get the hem to roll. I noticed that many of the videos used cotton or linen as an example, I found with a fabric as slippery as silk it just wouldn't hold. If anyone has mastered this please let me know? In the end I tried a 3 needle narrow rolled hem on my Brother overlocker and to my surprise it worked brilliantly! I used a Gutermann multicoloured pink tones overlocker thread bought from 1st For Fabrics. It looks far neater than my shoddy hand-sewing attempts and blends in well. I was going to turn it over and hem again but in the end I left it as is.
I wore this to an amazing Art Deco hotel in Devon, UK called Burgh Island (one of my favourite places in the world) with my Tilly and the Buttons Coralie Swimsuit and truly felt like I was channelling 1930s glamour!
This is my first attempt at sewing with silk so I'm not an expert by any means and there's much room for improvement. I'd love to know your tips for sewing with silk and sewing rolled hems?
Angie xx
Comments