Finally this blouse is all done, and worn happily. It will probably not be worn so casually all the time, but it can go from casual to more formal with ease. Finishing it was a matter of buttons, cuffs and hem. Making the buttonhole on the collar was something I had wanted to do before I added the collar to the blouse,
but as it turns out the collar really needs to be in place first so you can get a fitting and mark where you want it. The cuffs were fun and rather work intensive, but they turned out nicely. I have a few ideas of how I can do them differently next time I make this sort of cuff. I used three layers of the silk for the collar and also for the cuffs as self interfacing.
Working on silk was an experience I had not had in decades, and it was tricky but not as much as I thought it might be because it wasn't a slippery silk, but a crepe. As I wrote in the previous post, the Teflon Foot made a huge difference in the feed of the fabric, and made the sewing almost as easy as sewing cotton. For the most part, when sewing on silk you must do it right the first time because pulling out stitches can leave tell tale signs in the fabric. Ironing is not to be steam either. And I find that creases once ironed in remain in so caution in ironing is key as well. There is quite a lot of hand sewing that you should do with silk. I did the inner collar, the inner cuffs, and fastening the front facings to the shoulders and front seam by hand, and made sure the facings were anchored but not sewn tightly. I did machine hemming by turning up about 1/4" and sewing that and then turning up about 5/8" and sewing that. The blouse will be worn tucked in with a blousy style.
Finally this blouse is all done, and worn happily. It will probably not be worn so casually all the time, but it can go from casual to more formal with ease. Finishing it was a matter of buttons, cuffs and hem. Making the buttonhole on the collar was something I had wanted to do before I added the collar to the blouse,
but as it turns out the collar really needs to be in place first so you can get a fitting and mark where you want it. The cuffs were fun and rather work intensive, but they turned out nicely. I have a few ideas of how I can do them differently next time I make this sort of cuff. I used three layers of the silk for the collar and also for the cuffs as self interfacing.
Working on silk was an experience I had not had in decades, and it was tricky but not as much as I thought it might be because it wasn't a slippery silk, but a crepe. As I wrote in the previous post, the Teflon Foot made a huge difference in the feed of the fabric, and made the sewing almost as easy as sewing cotton. For the most part, when sewing on silk you must do it right the first time because pulling out stitches can leave tell tale signs in the fabric. Ironing is not to be steam either. And I find that creases once ironed in remain in so caution in ironing is key as well. There is quite a lot of hand sewing that you should do with silk. I did the inner collar, the inner cuffs, and fastening the front facings to the shoulders and front seam by hand, and made sure the facings were anchored but not sewn tightly. I did machine hemming by turning up about 1/4" and sewing that and then turning up about 5/8" and sewing that. The blouse will be worn tucked in with a blousy style.
