crafts - Sewing Silk

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Hi, :)
I'm a fairly decent sewer, I have sewn everything from market bags to
complicated garments, however, I have never sewn with silk. A friend gave
me a small bag of 100% silk ends and left overs. I thought I could piece
them together to make the lining of a wool scarf. (I'm thinking that it
would have a stained glass effect)
I am concerned that the silk will pucker. I have seen other hand made silk
clothing and have noticed that there can be a lot of puckering. I have also
noticed that hand made silk fabric can develop runs easily, I'm fairly
certain this is a needle size issue, however I guess it could be the type of
thread used as well.
Can anyone give me suggestions on sewing silk, or lead me to a good website
that has good instruction? (I have googled around but haven't found what
I'm looking for.)
Thanks

Woolstitcher wrote:

Hi, :)
I'm a fairly decent sewer, I have sewn everything from market bags to
complicated garments, however, I have never sewn with silk. A friend gave
me a small bag of 100% silk ends and left overs. I thought I could piece
them together to make the lining of a wool scarf. (I'm thinking that it
would have a stained glass effect)
I am concerned that the silk will pucker. I have seen other hand made
silk
clothing and have noticed that there can be a lot of puckering. I have
also noticed that hand made silk fabric can develop runs easily, I'm
fairly certain this is a needle size issue, however I guess it could be
the type of thread used as well.
Can anyone give me suggestions on sewing silk, or lead me to a good
website
that has good instruction? (I have googled around but haven't found what
I'm looking for.)
Thanks

OK. First off, what kind of silk are you going to be working with? That
makes a big difference in needle size and handling instructions. Like most
fabrics, the lighter and finer the fabric then the lighter and finer the
needle needs to be.

Look for this book:
http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Silk...2372841&sr=1-2

another great book on fabric is:
http://www.amazon.com/Claire-Shaeffe...2373160&sr=1-3

Try your public library.

Sharon
--
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and just annoys the
pig.

Sharon Hays" wrote in message
...

OK. First off, what kind of silk are you going to be working with? That
makes a big difference in needle size and handling instructions. Like
most
fabrics, the lighter and finer the fabric then the lighter and finer the
needle needs to be.

It's a bag of mixed ends. I'm guessing that most of the silk is medium
weight. It's all pretty slippery.
Thanks you for the references, I'll check today to see if my library has
them or will order them for me.

Woolstitcher wrote:
Hi, :)
I'm a fairly decent sewer, I have sewn everything from
market bags to complicated garments, however, I have
never sewn with silk. A friend gave me a small bag of
100% silk ends and left overs. I thought I could piece
them together to make the lining of a wool scarf. (I'm
thinking that it would have a stained glass effect) I am
concerned that the silk will pucker. I have seen
other hand made silk clothing and have noticed that there
can be a lot of puckering.

Puckering may be caused by incorrect thread tension, or
improper needle size. It may also occur when two pieces are
joined on the straight vertical grain, and nothing much can
prevent that. It's not being "silk" which is the problem,
that may happen to seams in poly or cotton fabric as well.

I have also noticed that hand
made silk fabric can develop runs easily,

Unless this is knit silk, I don't see how it can "run". If
you mean that the edges ravel excessively, that should be
corrected by proper seam-edge finishing.

I'm fairly
certain this is a needle size issue, however I guess it
could be the type of thread used as well.

Have you experimented with different thread and/or needles?
Whjat was the result? I would recommend silk thread for
sewing pure silk.

Can anyone give me suggestions on sewing silk, or lead me
to a good website that has good instruction? (I have
googled around but haven't found what I'm looking for.)
Thanks

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...sew-silk-7177/

Beverly

On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:38:51 -0500, Woolstitcher wrote:
I am concerned that the silk will pucker.

Only if sewn with poor tension, poor fabric handling, letting plies slip,
or you try to cram too much thread into the seamline (aka "thread jamming").
If hand sewing, relax your stitches, and work with the piece on a table.
If machine sewing, relax the thread tension, use
smaller diameter thread, and possibly also tissue paper or other stabilizer
on at least the bottom of the machine.

http://www.syntheticthread.com/seampuckering.pdf

Oh, also: always wind bobbins at a moderate rate -- no high speed winds, no
fast/slow/fast winds -- it helps keep the bobbin thread from being stretched
when winding, and then puckering as it recovers its natural length.

Sharp needles for wovens, small diameter mostly for what I think you're
talking about, perhaps size 8/60 9/65 or 10/70. I prefer Schmetz microtex
needles for sewing silks, but any sharp will do. Ballpoints for knits.

If you don't want to use silk thread for sewing, for many lightweight silks,
I use polyester "bobbin thread" or "lingerie thread", depending on what I can
get hold of. My current favorite silk thread is Tire; the bobbin thread I use
is often Superior's.

http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/...e/description/
http://www.silkthings.com/understanding_thread.htm

It's fabric. You've got scraps. Relax and play and figure out what works
for you. Oh, and try washing some of your silk scraps. Hand wash with
shampoo, rinse well, dry. Small pieces can be plastered wet onto a mirror
or window and allowed to dry flat, no ironing needed. (Add a little vinegar
to the rinse water if you're in a hard or alkaline water area -- like wool,
silk is a protein fiber that likes a slightly acid pH.)

Some silks "needlemark" -- you'll need to keep any pins in the seam allowance
with these. Satins and other fine-yarn silks typically needlemark.

BTW, I often have beginners working on silk suiting scraps... gets the fear
of silk out of the way, and they've got a "luxury" product when done.

Kay

Kay Lancaster wrote:
snip fabulous primer

Kay, have you written your book yet? ;-)

Beverly

Dear Woolstitcher,

A very important step in sewing any tightly woven fabric, especially
lightweight ones such as the silk you describe, is to press the seam
flat before you press it open. The puckering you've seen is often
caused because this step has been omitted. You should routinely do
this with all your sewing; you'll be surprised at the difference it
makes in the final product.

Teri

On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:08:35 +0000, Kate XXXXXX
wrote:

I'll just add that I always sew silk fabric with silk thread. I like
Coates new Seta Reale, or the YLI 100 weight threads for fine silk, and
a fine needle.

When I sew silk by hand, I frequently use a raveling from the fabric
itself, particularly when top-stitching flat-felled seams that aren't
supposed to show -- thread that matches the fabric now probably won't
after the garment has been through the washing machine a few times.

Beeswax (*real* beeswax, not the "sticky wax" that, for some other
fiber-arts purposes, is an adequate substitute) is a big help in
controlling ravelings and 100-weight silk.

Joy Beeson
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ -- sewing
http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

Dear Joy,

I have a book from the 1830s suggesting that if suitable thread is not
available, one should use ravelings from the fabric. You're the first
one I've heard of to actually do this. Much as I love handwork, you'd
have to whip me with a blivette before I'd do that. I made a bunch of
frontier style, eighteenth century shirts for the Daniel Boone home,
and had to ravel fringes for the trim. What a mess, and time
consuming? I thought I'd never get done. And there's no easy way to
do it; one row at a time, pull it out. And I threw out the removed
threads, when I could have sewn with them. Ah, well...

Teri