Sensational Silk

I love to dye silk.  There is something about how silk takes up the dye that makes it truly enjoyable to work with.  Then there is the beautiful lustre of the fabric when you are done.  There is nothing else like it.

A friend of mine recently had a baby girl, and I just had to make her a silk/flannel blanket.  In my haste to give it to her I forgot to take a photo. Baby Zara's blanket has a 16 point flower mandala with a purple flannel backing.  While I was making Zara's blanket, I also made one for a request on Etsy.  An 8 point star mandala is dyed onto silk.  The backing is a mottled orange flannel.



I thought I'd write a bit more about some of my favourite notions.  Working with silk made me buy some nice glass head pins.  I have these super sharp and thin pins from Clover.  I love them.  Although I don't love them when I stab myself with them.  I even stepped on one the other night. OUCH!



A walking foot is useful too when sewing silk.  It helps to keep the fabrics from slipping.


And using the right needle is important too.
This is my collection of needles. I use microtex needles for sewing silk. I also like microtex for sewing wovens. I use them when top stitching redondo skirts. In my collection I have sharps, denim, stretch, ball point, top stitching, metafil, heavy duty 100/16's.  I think I have some universal in there, but don't use them very often.  Maybe something else is hiding in there too.  My special needles for the cover stitch machine live with the cover stitch accessories, and my needles for machine embroidery are with my embroidery supplies.