Sunday, June 19, 2011

My Favorite Fabric of the Week...

I have discovered a new fabric, and while I was a little intimidated when I began sewing with it (because the price is prohibitive and I really didn't want to ruin the fabric with an "accident" as a result) it has quickly become my all-time favorite: Dupioni silk.

I've found myself thinking: wouldn't it be nice if all my clothes were made out of it.

Which is not practical at all. It's pretty much dry clean only from what I've heard. And a "dry clean only" piece of clothing would not do all that well in this house in anything other than headcovering form (headcovering fortunately don't usually meet with the same kind of wear and tear that shirts and that sort of thing are subjected too).

And I'm fickle. Last week I was thinking the exact same thing about linen. Then my order of Dupioni silk arrived and I was instantly smitten. Who knows what fabric I'll love next week. Satin? Crepe? Lace? Time will tell (and it's usually pretty obvious by what's being posted in my store!).

Here's a few example of what I've made so far. I have three more finished and waiting to be photographed, but my camera battery went dead mid-photo-shoot! One of the ones that hasn't been photographed is in a surprising orange color that, much to my surprise, became on of my favorites!








7 comments:

  1. Very pretty. You can actually hand wash duponi silk. My youngest daughter's baptismal dress (opinionated infant freaked out like it was the end of the world in the beautiful gown we had) was duponi silk and I hand washed it on more than one occasion and it did fine. Now she has a flower girl dress made of the same material and the tag inside says it can be hand washed in cold water.

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  2. Silk is a wonderful fabric to work with but don't wash it. If you do the shine comes off and it doesn't drape the same. You might want to look into how they used to clean silk before dry cleaners were invented.

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  3. Those really are gorgeous. They must make you feel so regal. I once had a beautiful silk ring sling I bought to wear to a wedding. I was so afraid it would rip because, of course, baby carriers do get a lot of wear. I sold it so I wouldn't ruin it.

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  4. If you wash the Dupioni, it will change the hand (it will be less crisp) and the sheen will change somewhat (it'll vary depending on how you wash it and by the piece). You could try doing a test piece to see if you like the change (I would recommend washing before making it up). I love Dupioni, both washed and unwashed.;0)

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  5. On a related (modesty) note, you may be interested in this piece on BBC's 'Today' radio show where they talked about the rise in demand for modest clothing in the UK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9515000/9515265.stm. The link should take you to the recording although I'm not entirely sure you can listen to it outside the UK....?

    I have to say I was somewhat surprised - you wouldn't know there was a rise in interest in modest clothing from the stock in the shops here. Then again, in the radio piece, they do say the surge seems to be in online sales. They talk about the US experience also.

    - Gail

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  6. By the way - if you're interested in the above but can't listen to the radio show, I've just found this artcle on the topic: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/16/faith-based-fashion-online

    - Gail

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