Stitch and bitch thread #2. Sewing aficionados gather here!

[IDontMindMarmite]

The previous thread is coming up to capacity and as ever your wisdom, screw ups and accomplishments are appreciated!

I've made a sweater in some mind the maker jacquard and joggers in the fleecy Jersey and the quality of those and the matching ribbing is exceptional. The extra width made it decent value for the quality, too.

That’s worth knowing PickAChew

I think some but not all of my overlocker problems are connected with the fabric I’m currently using which is a mix but nearly as slippery as satin. It’s breaking threads in my sewing machine every 5cm. I think I’ve sorted it by fiddling with the tension but it’s got no intention of zigzagging single layers. I’ll have to find my crimping shears

That's a beautiful pattern @Rebecca2. Is it for a special occasion that you are using silk? It shows you how versatile it is too looking at the shirt dress style of B.

I managed to get my Ogden cami finished and am pleased with using the bra sliders.

I have managed to iron on interfacing to the wrong side of the facing of my next project which is the Fibremood Norma blouse. My plan was to using the same lawn cotton that I made the Cami in as the facing but I haven't a long enough piece to make another facing. I've soaked the interfacing off and now have It in the tumble dryer hoping it's salvageable.

I love silk and went a bit mad in the Liberty sale. I'll largely wear it around the house on an evening as my social life sadly isn't of the silk evening dress variety. I just hope the static electricity in the material reduces

How wonderfully decadent! Why not get something you can wear all the time too. Get your money’s worth. I bought one metre of a silk print in the Liberty sale a couple of years back but haven’t found a use for it yet. I was thinking of getting a matching solid colour in silk to make something like the T&TB Fifi set but haven’t gotten around to it.

How lovely. I don't have a single item of silk clothing .
It sounds very luxurious and special though.

I really fancy a pair of silk pyjamas.
I used to live near a really posh dress shop that made their own ball gowns and I'd get offcuts. I still have a mad patchwork dress I made but I never wore it as I lost weight. Might make it over for DD when she's a teen.

Yeah silk pyjamas sounds amazing. As if I needed another project in the queue

I’ve only sewed with silk once - my wedding dress!

Love notions special offer pattern this week is the rhapsody blouse and dress
www.lovenotions.com/product/rhapsody

Another one for the to do list

I may have been looking at Liberty silk satin on Shaukat...

I started sewing with silk as a student. I used to go to the Liberty sale and buy a metre or 2 and make a very simple skirt. One seam at the back, gather it in irregular pleats at the top (ie not military precision pleat but small 2-3cm folds in the material rather than gathers which make it more bunchy) and apply a waist band lined with light interfacing. One button at the waistband and just an opening for a few inches below it that is usually hidden by the folds of the material or my top. I usually need a slip under silk as it tends to get staticy and cling otherwise especially when new. I've always just handwashed silk. I recently made a kimono silk top to wear over t shirt and leggings. I do buy non silk material too but love silk.

Photos of a silk skirt I made to my simple non pattern pattern a couple of years ago. The back view shows how the folds hide the lack of a zip. I didn't use a button here but a large hook and bar fastener so even easier. I actually put 2 bars on it to suit my waist variation as there's no elasticity in the waist

Suppose I were to make some silk pyjamas... Any recommendations for a good pattern?

Is silk difficult to sew?

I am drawing out a pattern for a simple shift dress. It just has front and back panels. I need to grade between sizes. Looking at the instructions here, it appears to suggest that I only grade the front pattern. Correspondingly, the front pattern panel has markings for busy/waist/hip where I can match up to grade. The back panel does not have markings. Does that sound right to you? I would end up with a size 12 back panel and a size 12/10 front. The two piece/ one piece refers to the fact that there are two front patterns, one with sizes 8 and 12, the other with 6, 10 & 14. Annoyingly!

Pyjamas ? Burda 2691. Lots of reviews of it on patternreview.com. I must have chucked out my pyjama pattern as now too small for me.
Silk is difficult to cut out but I don't find the sewing that bad. You need to use lots of pins (you can buy special silk pins online)and I use a cutting board and roller cutter and put tissue paper between the silk and the cutting board which stops it moving around as much. I made a shift dress and it had no darts at the back only the front. You could put the back pattern piece over the front piece and note where the waist hips etc are. I'm not really understanding the grade thing.

Love the painted dress earlier

I finished my ponte dress, just in time for it to be too warm.
I'm going to get this viscose from eBay to practice pyjamas I think. The pair I have from Tu don't have a bust dart but I may add one.

I’m just hemming my burda top on the previous page and that would work well in silk....

Yeah i'll put the two pieces on top of each other to make sure I line them up right. Thanks.

Actually I'm going for this:

www.sewalittleseam.com/product/womens-holiday-pajamas/
I used the children's one to make the DCs' flannel pyjamas with piping and it's cheaper and comes with two cup sizes.

They're nice

I've seen loads of free pyjama pdfs when googling around as well.

I'm not a fan of print your own patterns for adult clothes. They're fine for kids' stuff. Puperita pdfs were great. I like my tissue paper preprints for adult stuff.

I already have a free PJ pants print your own for me but it's a no-side-seam job so it's not very well fitted. It was ok to stick together and I use a few print your own tops for me also. I usually trace patterns if they aren't print your own.

I'm pretty happy with how my tunic came out I used this pattern grainlinestudio.com/collections/dresses/products/uniform-tunic-0-18?variant=33219712385106

It went together pretty well, though the.pocket construction was a faff with an overlocker (too many corners!) . I'd make this again, maybe lengthen it to a dress, and maybe do patch pockets.