Most tallitot begin with taking the first cut into a piece of silk. This one is no exception. I had to do the usual cut and pull a thread to help me cut a straight line along 72 inches of slippery silk.
Either I have gotten better at this, or this heavy weight silk just makes the job easier but after 72 inches I wasnāt a bit cranky. My eyes didnāt even ache.
Today I began the first layer of dyeing.
The color will be far less spectacular once the silk dries.
The speckles are caused by large grains of salt. You can buy a teeny jar from the silk dye company marked āsilk saltā but any large grained salt will do just fine. The larger the grain the more pronounced the design.
I have used everything from regular table salt to large sugar crystals or even uncooked rice. They all work.
I find that layers of thin dyes built up create a visually exciting surface with real depth of color. I hate colors right out of the jar. I hate looking at work at a craft show and knowing exactly which jar of color was used to dye a piece. I like a little bit of mystery when it comes to color.
This client comes by tonight. We are designing her invitation.
I also did a quick version of one of the 1920ās dresses from the ad I found in the sewing book.
Here is my dress cut out.
If you unfold the dress at the shoulder line it will be the same shape as the dresses in the diagrams.
I added the wide sides at the waist rather than at the hips. I probably added the width to high for my body.
I have made similar dresses and did not gather the wide sides.
I may undo the gathers. This dress reminds me of something my mother wore when I was a kid, and not in a good way.
The marbles print makes it hard to see the gathers but they do add too much extra to my hips.
I am wearing the belt because I REALLY hated the dress without it.
So my verdict on the 1920ās dress diagrams is that itās certainly quick. The gathers are a no for my body. I will get rid of the gathers and see if I like the dress better with a draped side .
Love the marbled print!
ReplyDeleteThanks! me too.Aside from the cool end papers look there is also the fact that it tends to hide flaws that occurred because of sewing errors or figure flows of the wearer. I had once made a skirt out of a variety of black and white striped silks laid our in all directions. My theory was that if anyone looked at me too hard they would get dizzy and wouldn't realize that I had gained weight.
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