Sunday, October 3, 2010

:: pins & needles - It's not all fun & games

Burda 2711


My husband's not talking to me at the moment. Don't get me wrong, he's not giving me the silent treatment. Instead, he's desperately trying to read his way through 700+ pages of 'A Fraction of the Whole' before his next book club meeting. Knowing he was planning to spend the night cuddling his book on the couch, I decided to have a hot date with my sewing machine. There wasn't a lot of love in the room.

I decided to make a nightie using Burda 2711. I've done it before easily and assumed it could be done again easily. I was wrong. The first time I made it in cotton voile. This time I used slippery silk. Damn you slippery silk!  I love this fabric. I just don't always like to sew it. If you look closely you can see that it's covered with lots of lovely whimsical touches - flowers, dragonflies, grass seed heads, butterflies and vines. Very cute! (The fabric was harvested from a very ugly 100% silk op-shop dress).

Sewing the bias binding was a flippin' nightmare to say the least. Not fun at all! Despite trying really hard to do beautiful work, it's a real bodge job. Luckily this one's for bed and not for a night out at the Oscars.

I began by following the instructions on how to attach the bias strip - Result: Bodgy
I than ran the strip through my bias binding maker/iron - Result: Better but still bodgy

Any tips on sewing homemade silky bias binding would be much appreciated. 

I did have my first go at sewing French seams and these turned out lovely, which was nice given my horror evening battling the bias.
***

Yesterday I ducked into Vinnies and scored 15 copies of Australian Stitches at 30c a pop. They're all from 1999 - 2001 so the fashion is outdated but the sewing tips are still good. The first article I came to was 'Sewing with Silk'. (3 hours too late!) It had lots of really useful information I could have used. I was slightly amused by the last line on 'Hems and Finishes' - or, for a more challenging finish, finish the edge with a very narrow bias binding.' Challenging, you bet!

3 comments:

  1. It will be lovely to wear. Of course I have some tips. Will discuss next time we are on the phone. Anyway, if you decide the binding is too bodge for you, you could always pass the nightie onto me...

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  2. It looks lovely - would be nice if the weather heated up soon though! have you tried using a binding foot? I use mine with slippery fabric or with a very narrow bias and it works a treat.

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  3. I doesn't look so bad in the photo. I always take the long road with something like this machining one side then lovingly handstitching the other side. Gives me an excuse to watch tv and sew at the same time. Did your husband like the book? I gave up after about 250 pages. In my opinion, Tolz is the most over-rated writer in Australia!

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