THE BANYAN - SEWING THE SILK 5th April 2021

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If you'd like to listen rather than read, then please do so HERE

Sewing the silk outer layer of this project has been (well, still is!) an interesting journey...

The fabric is incredibly slippery and I have to tack the relevant pieces together about 1.5" to 2" away from the edge before I can consider doing any proper tacking/sewing. The photo shows the outer tacking as well as a linen tape (part of an old sheet... tinted with tea, naturally!) tacked into place to enable the actual stitching. 


Lovely silk thread from De Vere Yarns, a real pleasure to use. I'm pleased to note (lower half of the photo) that I seem to stitch at eight stitches to the inch: in real terms, this means sixteen as it is a back stitch. Quite respectable! Whether this use of tape is historically accurate I'm not sure, but it makes for a stronger, straighter seam (in my view) and has the added bonus that the top edge can be sewn down to cover the raw, easily-frayed edge.


Frankly, I was expecting sewing all those long seams to be tedious but, in fact, it's surprising  just how it moves along. The right hand side is now all sewn up and so next I have to tackle the repeat process for the left.


As you can see, the gown is too long - better that than too short - ditto the sleeves. The overhang on the latter will, in due course, be made into a deep cuff. Before that though comes the 'interesting' part: trying to match the lining and the outer - and work out how the heck I'm going to make the collar!!! 


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