Unless you’ve been vacationing in the Seychelles, you might be aware of the epic cold weather half the US experienced last week.
Besides the arctic temperatures, New Yorkers have been complaining about cabin fever. It’s just too cold to even go out and enjoy a Friday night so, I turned to all that fabric that I neglected in 2018.
This semi-sheer silk is from Broadway Silk, my favorite fabric store in Astoria. I have several different silks from this store as well, but because of the temperamental nature of the fabric, I haven’t had the best luck working with it and it hinders any ambition I have to keep sewing. Sometimes I have to sew a quick cotton top so I don’t lose the sewing mojo.
Since this was my first project of the year, I wanted to just make a quick but modern top for work. I used Simplicity 2146 as the base.
The princess seams are elegant and flattering making it a great jump off for an office top.
To add some design to a simple silhouette, I added a few inches before the fold to create a center pleat.
I added the black bias tape at the bottom to weigh down the silk and keep the pleat in form.
Lessons:
Silk will do whatever the hell it wants. Be patient! I’m pretty sure in the past, the fabric can tell when I’m getting frustrated and a WIP (work in progress) can quickly turn into a forever UFO (unfinished object). Quick sewing vocab/slang lesson for you!
Cut the edges as clearly as possible. I think there was also more urgency in getting the project done because I was afraid the edges would fray the more I moved it about from room to room while sewing and ironing.
The silk was wayward but not enough so that I ever really considered ordering a stabilizer, though I haven’t completely ruled ordering one yet. I just don’t have any fabric, yet, that requires it. I have been looking into sprays so maybe I’ll challenge myself later in the year.
