I've been talking about (and buying pieces of ) silk for a while now. I just love silk. I love how it feels, how it looks... how it feels. It's really rather odd that the Lady Grey coat lining is the first time that I actually (I think) have sewn on silk. Admittedly, I was a bit intimidated at first. Silk can be slithery.
Lucky for me, I had a game plan. I recently bought More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina. What a great book - why did I wait so long to buy it?!?! I think one of the big challenges when you begin to sew is not just picking appropriate fabrics for a project, but understanding how to sew on different fabrics - what needle, thread and stitch to use, what kinds of interfacing or underling would work well, what setting to use on your iron, and so forth. Both my fabrics for this project - wool boucles and silk charmeuse - are new-to-me fabrics as far as sewing goes. So, having a handy reference to point me in the right direction is a huge asset.
Anyway, my lining is coming together nicely. (Lots more princess seams.) I had been worried about the seams puckering or the fabric being pulled into the throat plate and getting chewed up. I think I held my breath when I started sewing on it. But so far no problems. I am using a fine needle and small stitch length, as recommended, and my seams look good. There's a lot of raveling going on, so I will definitely not be leaving the seam allowances unfinished. But the lining should be ready to go when I need it... if I ever finish all the hand stitching. Ha ha ha.
Speaking of hand sewing, given how many seams there were to catchstitch down and how very slow I am at it, I finally caved in and decided to try topstitching the seams of the shell on my sewing machine instead. And, wouldn't you know it: I love the results! The topstitching thread doesn't really stand out from the boucles all that much, but the overall effect is that the seams look very finished and professional. So, for this time, at least, the easy solution is also the better one!
So, tonight it is on to part 3 of hand stitching... taping the roll line of the lapels.
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| Lining with collar facing |
Lucky for me, I had a game plan. I recently bought More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina. What a great book - why did I wait so long to buy it?!?! I think one of the big challenges when you begin to sew is not just picking appropriate fabrics for a project, but understanding how to sew on different fabrics - what needle, thread and stitch to use, what kinds of interfacing or underling would work well, what setting to use on your iron, and so forth. Both my fabrics for this project - wool boucles and silk charmeuse - are new-to-me fabrics as far as sewing goes. So, having a handy reference to point me in the right direction is a huge asset.
Anyway, my lining is coming together nicely. (Lots more princess seams.) I had been worried about the seams puckering or the fabric being pulled into the throat plate and getting chewed up. I think I held my breath when I started sewing on it. But so far no problems. I am using a fine needle and small stitch length, as recommended, and my seams look good. There's a lot of raveling going on, so I will definitely not be leaving the seam allowances unfinished. But the lining should be ready to go when I need it... if I ever finish all the hand stitching. Ha ha ha.
Speaking of hand sewing, given how many seams there were to catchstitch down and how very slow I am at it, I finally caved in and decided to try topstitching the seams of the shell on my sewing machine instead. And, wouldn't you know it: I love the results! The topstitching thread doesn't really stand out from the boucles all that much, but the overall effect is that the seams look very finished and professional. So, for this time, at least, the easy solution is also the better one!
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| Can you see the topstitching? Kinda hard. |
Love silk too! I've never sewn with it either!
ReplyDeleteI need to get that book, it's on my wish list. I do have a b-day coming up... Have to hint around at it. lol!
That is a gorgeous lining!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Faye!
ReplyDeleteYes, Heather, start dropping hints. It's a really good reference.