Let’s get fancy and chat about delicate fabrics! We discuss different kinds of delicate fabrics, and the tools and tips you need to succeed in working with fine fabrics. You will be sewing up your silks and chiffons in no time!
This episode is sponsored by The Sewing Workshop! Love to Sew listeners can get 25%-off patterns and fabrics by going to www.SewingWorkshop.com and using discount code LOVETOSEW at checkout. Some exclusions apply.
Thanks also to Buffy for supporting Love to Sew! For $20 off your Buffy comforter, visit Buffy.co and enter promo code LOVETOSEW.
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Love to Sew episode mentions:
- Episode 56: Hand Sewing with Brooks Ann Camper
- Episode 92: Sergers and Overlockers 101
- Episode 110: Seam Finishes
- Episode 123: Fitting Solo with Linda Lee
Helen’s 1966 Sears Kenmore machine:
Caroline’s Bernina 530:
Resources mentioned:
Fabric stabilizers mentioned:
- Wash-away, tear-away, cut-away, and heat-away fabric stabilizers will work – remember to test!
- DIY spray starch
- The Gelatin Method
Sewing with delicate fabrics tools:
- Silk Organza Press Cloth
- Clover Hold It Precision Stiletto
- Microtex Sewing Machine Needles
- Feet mentioned:
- Walking foot
- Teflon foot
- Rolled hem foot
- Clover Silk Pins
- Dritz Ultra Fine Pins
- Straight stitch needle plate
Delicate fabrics inspo!
View this post on Instagram
Sewing patterns mentioned in this episode (great pattern options for delicate fabrics!):
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Hi Helen and Caroline! This podcast is an absolute delight 🙂 I have a question about seam finishes. I’ve finished making a dress using a very slinky, silky rayon type fabric, and I finished the seams using a simple straight stitch (I’m still a beginner and was trying to keep it simple). But now that it’s done I can see it’s unravelling like CRAZY, to the point where I don’t even want to wear it for fear of scraggly threads peeking out and betraying me. What can you do in this situation, post-completion? Unpick where possible and finish a different way? Some sort of anti-fray product? Pinking shears? I’m having the same problem with another dress I finished with straight stitch (starting to learn my lesson?) in a cotton lawn (I think) – the seams are unravelling so fast they’re threatening to carry on past the stitching, and I’m terrified my dress will eventually disappear…any ideas?
Amy, thanks so much for your message! So sorry to hear about your dress fraying issues! Seamwork has a really great article on a number of different tips you can use to keep your seams from fraying which we will link below. As we mentioned in this episode, french seams are a great, strong option for a seam finish for delicate fabrics. You can also incorporate stay stitching and fray check (as mentioned in the Seamwork article) if you are looking for a little more stability! We hope this helps! https://www.seamwork.com/issues/2016/02/a-delicate-matter
Hi Helen & Caroline,
Are fabric stabilizers and spray starch the same?
Kind regards, Barbara
Barbara, thanks so much for your message!Spray starch is typically used as part of the ironing process, which helps us to get crisp, clean press – great for collars and cuffs! Though it is great in the pressing process, it often isn’t stiff enough, like what you would achieve with a fabric stabilizer. So the two are different – stabilizer being used to support and reinforce the fabric itself, and spray starch is used when pressing to get a crisp look! We hope this helps 🙂 Here is a helpful article on the different types of stabilizers out there: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2008/11/03/making-sense-of-stabilizers#stabilizers%20by%20mail