The April challenge for The Monthly Stitch WAS “put a bird on it”!
Well it is too late for that now … my cats chased after them and they all flew away – all that’s left is the feathers!
Guilty as charged! Just look at them!
Beginning of April, I purposefully went to my fabric shop to buy fabric with a “bird on it”. Nothing was to be found. I did, however, find a lovely light polyester chiffon with a colourful feather print. Luckily, I already had a solid white polyester in my stash. I used my Butterick pattern, B5988, tried ‘n true. It is such a TNT that I left the pattern pieces and instructions in the envelope and just used my traced pieces.
I wasn’t too sure how the fragile fabric would hold a seam so I French seamed all the chiffon, including the arm holes, like this:
Sew the wrong sides together!
Fold the seam over, iron, trim, and sew again, sewing the right sides together this time. As an added precaution, I zig zagged the seams too.
Finished French seam!
At the neckline, I sewed together both layers – the see-through chiffon and the solid white polyester. The only other place I attached the two layers was a couple of stitches under both arms. Then I bound the neckline edge with single fold bias tape.
Sewing single fold bias tape on the right side.
Folding it over the edge and sewing it on the inside.
I then realized after flipping and turning and sewing and some more flapping, the edges of my sleeves and hem were fraying. I spent a few days staring at my top trying to decide the best thing to do. I didn’t want a large hem. I would prefer to have no hem at all! Wonder Tape to the rescue!
So I trimmed the mess off. I applied the Wonder tape to the wrong side at the very edge, folded the hem up twice and sewed the narrow hem down. The Wonder tape gave my narrow hem some body, but was not stiff at all.
Just right! Now I have a lovely white top. This is probably the last time you will see it really white though, after I get through a day wearing it, who knows what colour it will be…. spaghetti sauce anyone?
Lovely shot of my big elbow.
Lovely shot of my big veined hand.
Does anyone else have any hints on sewing polyester chiffon?
Happy Sewing!
39 Responses to “You are too late to see the “birds”!”
Your top is so fun to wear! I have only sewn with chiffon once and I made something very simple. And I didn’t think it was easy. I think that if I were to sew with chiffon again i will need to have a good few hours so that I can do the cutting and sewing and hemming all in one go. Otherwise, if the fraying and fabric distortion may get to be too cumbersome.
Thank you. I found the Wonder tape, or a similar product, completely fixed the fraying.
Enjoyed reading how you handled the chiffon and how you attached the lining to the fashion fabric. Gave me some ideas for future garments. Beautiful top!
Thank you! Good luck with your future projects. It’s lovely what can be accomplished with the right tools – needles, settings, Wonder tape….. Patience! 🙂
Oho! That fabric is just gorgeous! Glad you managed to save it! 😀
Thank you!
It’s very pretty! The fabric looks so lovely and drapey.
Thank you!
Your top is beautiful. I can’t remember if I ever did work with chiffon when I did sew. I probably saw it fraying on the bolt and took a fast turn in the other direction.
Yes, I completely understand that. I wasn’t thinking or I would have run too!
Just lovely! That feather print is so pretty and so versatile.
Thank you!
I LOVE that fabric! The blouse looks very cute on you. 🙂 I hate sewing with lightweight fabric like this, so I sympathize with your pain regarding the hem!
Thank you! I am glad it all worked out.
Lovely top and expert sewing on the chiffon!
Thank you ver much!
I LOVE this, Linda! And I hate sewing with poly chiffon, but I choose to do it anyway, time and time again, so THANK YOU for the wonder tape tip. Sorry for shouting so much, but I feel very strongly about this adorable top and helpful post.
Thank you very much for the praise! It is such beautiful fabric! I figure the whole point of blogging is to exchange ideas. My husband certainly isn’t interested in Wonder tape, nor I in sprockets, etc. I don’t mind the ALL CAPS yelling neither! 😃 We were just trying to explain to him the other day that ALL CAPS means yelling on the computer. He still does it. I think the poor lad’s button is stuck! 😃
Linda, you had me worried with all that talk about cats and birds, but I pressed on and ta-da a very pretty top. Nicely done!
Thank you! Gotta open with a BANG! Huh?