7 Tips For Sewing Silk Fabric
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- Silk is a wonderful fabric, but when it comes to sewing silk - it can be a bit tricky, so let's talk about 7 ways how you can get better results when working with this fabric.
This video is created in partnership with Organ Needles - needle industry experts.
Video parts:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Tip No.1: use sandwich method for cutting
01:18 Tip No.2: pre-wash silk to avoid water-stains
01:43 Tip No.3: use thin cloth for pressing
02:14 Tip No.4: make test seams
03:49 Tip No.5: use silk needles
05:16 Tip No.6: use thin, sharp pins
06:07 Tip No.7: select right seam finishes
Let's connect!
MY SEWING COURSES: courses.sewingjulie.com/courses
SEWING PATTERNS: www.etsy.com/shop/SewingJulie...
BLOG: www.sewingjulie.com/
INSTAGRAM: / sewingjulieblog
TIKTOK: tiktok.com/@sewingjulie - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
![ชวนน้องลงทุ่ง - เงาะน้อยเพชรบ้านแพง X น้องมายด์ [ Music Video ] Official Saman Music](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bq7Hw9culjE/mqdefault.jpg)
![[4K직캠] BABYMONSTER(베이비몬스터) - FOREVER](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PS3UAFto1z8/mqdefault.jpg)
Another great tip in my experience is to change the sole plate on your machine to the one with small hole. On modern machines the sole plate has a wide hole to accommodate all the needle positions and wide zig zags etc. This means fine silk sometimes doesn’t get supported and can get sucked down or when you sew, can click (send spurs of thread) like when you catch your tights. Of course you need to know you can only straight stitch. This is just an extra precaution in addition to excellent tips in this video.
If you cannot only straight stitch, you can sandwich it between paper for sewing as well.
Another option for thin pins may be insect pins (used by entomologists / in bug collections). I've seen textile conservators using them on fragile old fabrics in videos / blog posts. They have smaller heads, too, so they may not be great if you have trouble gripping small things. But it's an option, especially because I think a website selling them is much likelier to state the exact dimensions. 🙂
Years ago I was told silk should *never* be washed because it destroyed the texture; it must *always* be dry-cleaned. Then I learned about chemical weighting and why it's used, especially for less expensive fabrics, and that it's the weighting that causes the spots.
I decided that my silk fabrics would become one giant water spot by washing them first, and I still do this. When I first started washing my silks it barely changed the texture on crepe-de-chine and charmeuse but quite a lot on habotai (a less expensive fabric). I took this to mean the habotai was much more heavily weighted than the other two, if they were weighted at all.
Thank you for sharing this, very interesting!
So do you mean you wash your silks, or you don't? :)
@@raeraesews Wash all the things!!!
Great tips, thank you!
I have made several garments from silk satin and silk chiffon. I prepare the fabric by starching it heavily with powdered starch and ironing it on a woolen blanket on my dining room table. This process doubles as pre-shrinking.
I would never send anything to a dry cleaner, and modern silk washes up just fine. Does tend to lose some dye, so don't soak it and never use bleach. Bleach causes disintegration.
The starch rinses out in plain warm water. Any remaining crispness is OK.
Silk chiffon is fragile so don't make anything closely fitted. Use silk thread to sew. If there is any strain on a seam, in use, it is better if the sewing thread breaks, rather than the fabric ripping. If the seam gives way, it is just a matter of sewing it up again. If the thread holds, it is the fabric that will give way and the piece is irreparable.
These are wonderful insights, thank you for sharing! Could you share the name of the silk thread you used? I used every sewing supply store where I live, but it seems none carry anything like it…🤔
@@Julija_Gobere The only silk thread I know of is Gutermann. It is nearly 3 times the price of their polyester.
Cotton thread might be OK also, but I haven't tried it on silk. I just remember that, many years ago, the seams of my older clothes need to be stitched up eventually, whereas, now, with indestructible polyester, that never happens.
What is powdered starch, please?
@@olajordan4270 It is what people used to stiffen fabrics, before starch was put into spray cans. I only know of one supermarket that stocks it now. It caters for the lower end of the market. When most people use starch nowadays, they use the spray cans.
I've also used cotton embroidery thread for silk chiffon and for the same reason: it will break before the fabric tears. Silk sewing thread was really difficult to find in the days before the internet.
Thank you for the tips Julija. Can you pleas do one about sequins fabric?
Downunder we can buy lace pins which are thin. I haven't purchased any in 40 years😊 so maybe they no longer exist. There are interesting comments, which I have tried many. I do use a fine needle and shorten the stitch length a bit. Love your chanel.
Sometimes they are called 'wedding dress' pins.
I purchased some Clover brand glass headed pins from Spotlight. They were in the quilting section.
They are long and silky smooth. They slide into the fabric easily and fall out just as easily, so I am glad that the glass heads are visible, on my floors.
Thank you for this tips
VERY INTERESTING. THANK YOU
Thank you Julija ❤
Thank you so much for informative video ❤
I wish I had heard your tips before sewing a very fine silk fabric but I now have more information for my next project
Thank you for sharing these tips! I’m preparibg a silk project and I was happy to stuble upon your video.
Well how serendipitous is this! I recently found 3 metres of lovely soft fabric in a charity shop and when I got it home, there in the selvedge was printed 100% seda. Isn't seda the Italian word for silk???
So I am now prepared for a lovely project done with extra care. Many thanks!!!
That sounds like a great find!🤗
lucky!
Seda is the Spanish word for silk, lucky girl
Thanks
Your videos are very useful for me
I am keen to watch all your videos despite the struggle with the language because of me and not because of you. On the contrary, your language is clear, Masha Allah
Thanks for the tips! Another silk tip I just found out (the hard way of making a mistake) that for silk or polyester satin fabrics you can prevent puckering of the seams by cutting pattern pieces across the grain instead of longwise. It’s still straight /perpendicular/ to the grain but just sideways. Next time….
I am new to silk and don’t quite understand.
Do you mean to lay the pattern across the fabric with selvedges at top and bottom as opposed to layout with selvedge edges to either side of the layout?.
This is a great channel with many useful shared comments :
I appreciate you all and your willingness to help newbies such as myself.
@@olajordan4270 Yes, exactly. Satin won’t pucker if it’s cut with selvedges at the top and bottom. It’s especially good for seams that show, like princess seams or a skirt. I know what you mean, I am also really glad to be able to learn from more experienced people all over the world.
Interesting.
I think the reason is because the weft has a bit more give than the warp, which is always stretched taut on a loom. So I'm guessing cutting a "live" fabric on the crossgrain gives you a bit more leeway for the fabric sliding around minutely as you sew.
@@beth12svist Good to know the reason for this! Thanks!
Thank you so much! Do you hand wash the silk or how do you keep it from fraying before hemming?
Where can you buy silk and know that you are getting quality and genuine silk?
Thank you for sharing your great tips Julia 👍 😊. I like your blue blouse very much. Do you have the pattern for it to sell? 🤔 😊
Very glad to hear you enjoyed the video!🤗 The blue blouse is actually a dress by Burda - you can find the pattern on their website by searching ‘Plumetis dress’. Absolutely fantastic pattern!
I like the tissue cutting method. But does it mean that the scissors will dull out faster? Anw, I've come to terms that fabric shears getting dull are inevitable, and it's good to have them sharpened.
What kind of a needle would you use for raw slik that is thicker fabric?
The are many, many kinds of silk, not all slippery. For example silk noil. I sew many silk garments and never used tissue paper. I think it is depends on experience
Watch you thread weight IF not using silk thread
I was given several meters of green silk. The shade is too bright for me to use as a garment. I am wondering if you or any of your viewers have any experience w8th dying silk. My other plan wo7ld be to make silk pollow cases as gifts out of it. Either way I am glad to now know how to sew it and get a superior finish.
I think that rayon was made to be fake silk, or am I mixing up something? I think that it's important to remember that for example silk taffeta can have chemical finish that can be ruined by water and it's always a good idea to check on a scrap how the fabric behaves on contact with water. Especially with something as expensive as silk.
Great info. Thanks.
Rayon became popular in the 1940s as an alternative to silk (which was unavailable due to the war). With the creation of polyester (a very cheap and versatile fiber), rayon became more obsolete. Now it's pretty uncommon, but I absolutely love the drape of a rayon fabric. ❤
@@halliehasslinger9663 It absolutely slips my mind what was the 'artificial silk' in Edwardian times, I only remember they had it already back then. I thought it was rayon, but maybe I'm wrong. And I prefer rayon too, it drapes so much nicer than polyester and doesn't feel hot.