A productive week

Monday

In class that day, I finally got over my fear of cutting this raw silk fabric that I've had in my stash for probably twenty years or more. I chose Simplicity 8707, which was probably the wrong pattern for the fabric, but I think it worked.

Someone else took a sample before I bought the fabric.

A little bit of explanation; when I first started thinking about costuming a character that I want to sew for, I raid my stash for potential fabrics. I had stumbled across this raw silk in my stash whilst looking for something else many months ago. I snapped a few pictures of it and shared it with Steph; she loved the fabric. Still afraid of the fabric, I spent weeks thinking about what pattern, whether there was enough for the robe I wanted to make with the fabric, etc.

Suffice to say, without Steph's enthusiasm, I would still be terrified of cutting the fabric, and it would have been a wasted investment.

Also, who forgot to launder the fabric before cutting? Yeah.

Wednesday

I took the plunge. Like some other fabrics, and yes, I knew what I ought to have done with this one, and still failed to remember in time. Oh well, I still like the results. The 'what I ought to have done' is this: after cutting the pieces, overlock all raw edges before sewing anything. I wouldn't have had to french seam everything. This raw silk is heavy and thick, my overlocker hated it; my sewing machine grumbled. It also frays just by looking at it.

There are another two yards or so remaining of this fabric, so something else might come of it some other time.

The (sorta) finished item before washing.

One of the items I disregarded was the 'uneven stripes' warning many of these patterns express on the envelope. I got lucky that the stripes almost aligned; though it might bother some people, it's for an Imperial Orc and the rustic look of the brief. Some dress in leather, I have (too much) fabric that's crying out for purpose. Once I add belts and all the tat, I think most people won't see the lines aren't perfectly aligned.

Bias binding to strengthen the neckline; as (mostly) instructed by the pattern.

I have a limited palette of extra strong sewing threads. I had the almost perfect bias binding, it's too wide, but its colour fit the palette. Back to the threads, I'll be adding some more of those extra strong sewing threads to the neckline/opening to reinforce the neckline, but to add the coven's colours, some blue, and the glow-in-the-dark thread. At some point, I'll whip-stitch the edge in blue to protect the silk.

This robe will go over the scapular, of which, there'll be another blog post regarding the further additions to it.

The sleeves are comparatively narrow to the tunic, so I'll need to narrow the tunic's sleeves towards the wrist. Will have to do another kit try-on to determine how much to adjust on the tunic.

The left side of the robe.

Thursday

I've just laundered the silk... colour bleed from the multicolour sari silk lines of weaving into the cream raw silk. Oops... but it's frayed the bottom hem wonderfully and bloomed the silk. I've run the robe a second time through the cycle without detergent, to make sure all the soap is out. I'm eager to see what it's going to look like once it's dry. Wet raw silk smell... reminds me of a beloved wet dog.

I'll have to get a picture of that to go in here, once the garment's dry.

The fabric was probably one of those 'dry clean only' fabrics, but the manufacturers probably never expected a buyer to (eventually) drag the fabric through muddy fields and all the rest of the wear this robe is going to endure in the future.

ETA:

So I still haven't gotten a picture of how the raw silk robe looks layered with the other items, but I have tried it on over the scapular and the tunic and a T-shirt, and it still barely fits.

I have added to the neckline, but haven't finished the other side, so here're some pictures that show how the silk bloomed and the incomplete addition to the neckline.

Turquoise blue cotton aran-weight yarn couched with blue extra strong polyester thread.

A closer view of the couched knotted cotton yarn. I put the knots in the yarn to add some texture to it and to give some stopgaps for the couching to hold onto.

Another subtle addition is the running stitch in blue 'silk' machine embroidery thread.

I'm very glad that I had the presence-of-thought to zigzag the hem before washing it, as the fabric frayed madly-yet-beautifully. Unfortunately, I failed to do that for the sleeves, and though I used the selvage as their hem, that's kinda disintegrated. I wonder if I can zigzag the sleeves to prevent them from going any worse. Another regret is that I ought to have put in a colour catcher sheet as the pinks in the sari silk waste bled and the whole thing now has a faintly pinkish cast to it in some areas. I suppose that gives the overall garment the needed worn and ragged appearance.