Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: What to Make with Silk Taffeta



You may have noticed that Fabric Mart has a *HUGE* selection of silk taffeta right now.  A lot of it is either large plaid or large stripes.   I was curious about it, and not really sure what I could make with it, but I just knew it would be gorgeous fabric and had to play around with it.  Turns out, it's actually great for quite a range of projects!  The dress above is my third project.


Let me show you the first two. My first was to make some queen size pillow shams.  They are the plaid ones in the back of the photo.  I also made the two printed ones in the center from another Fabric Mart home dec fabric special! 


I wanted to make the covers removable with a zipper, and include a braided trim.  As luck would have it, I found a whole card of braided trim at an estate sale that worked with my taffeta for just $2!


To start, I used a zipper foot to stitch down the braided trim all around one side of the pillow. Then I serged a piece of lining fabric to the back of each side.  I don't think that you would have to line these, but I'm using down feather pillows, so I thought that the lining might be a barrier to feathers poking out.


For the corners, I trimmed the braided trim and wrapped tape around the ends so that they wouldn't ravel.  Then, I just pushed the edges together at a corner, so that after the pillow was turned, they would be on the inside, like this:


Then, I went back and sewed the zipper face down over the braided trim, as if it would be an invisible zipper.


This is what it looked like before I sewed them together.


And this is the zipper afterwards-you can just barely see it under the trim.


It's hard to capture the sheen on these pillows, but they are really quite beautiful and rich-looking in person! I used 2-1/4 yards of the silk, and I lined them with 2-1/4 yards of drapery lining.  I had about a 12" wide piece of silk left from cutting the pillows, so I decided to make a table runner for our foyer table from it.


On the back side, I used the drapery lining, and did a similar thing with the braided trim.  I think that the braided trim really is a simple way to make things look high end.


I finished it just in time for a bridal shower that we were hosting, and another great coincidence- the letters of their names were painted in the same shade of green!


And now back to the dress!  I wanted to make something to wear from the taffeta for the shower, but didn't want anyone to see the pillows and table runner, and be able to know that it was the same fabric.  So, I took a 2-1/2 yard piece of the taffeta, and dyed it with 2 Tbsp of navy blue fabric dye.  It absorbed the dye so fast, I couldn't believe how much it changed it!  It turned it into kind of a denimy blue with lavender accents.  Here is the before and after side by side:


The texture became a little limper, and slightly less shiny, but I definitely prefer it for less formal clothes.  It's been a million degrees here with unspeakable humidity, so I decided to make a  loose-fitting sleeveless dress that I could wear for the bridal shower.


I found a simple a-line dress pattern with center front and back seams, so that I could cut it on the bias and match the plaid design.


I had a one yard package of lavender beaded trim that I used to accent the pockets and neckline, and used a self bias strip turned to the outside to finish the neck.  Even though it's simple, this was a technically challenging project to get everything to line up just so!


I got a lot of compliments on it at the shower, and one very nice surprise, was that it didn't wrinkle much at all!  These photos were taken after a very long day, setting up and then hosting the shower, and then even a nap afterwards, and there are really no more creases than there were to begin with!  The crinkly texture was there all along.


Sewing with silk taffeta is really easy- it presses well and it doesn't slip around when cutting or sewing like some silks do.  Have you tried sewing with silk taffeta?  If yes, what did you make?


Happy Sewing!
Ann

Comments

  1. The pillows and runner are beautiful! A great addition to your home! And your dress is perfect! Is it NL 6430? If so, I've just made 3 of them and love that pattern. So if course you couldn't go wrong using it with the silk taffeta...and now you've got me thinking that I need one more from a washed taffeta silk.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Carolyn! Yes, I think you need one more too! I used Kwik Sew 3049 for this one. It's long out of print, but a great one for a bias dress.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful! I love the home projects and the use of the trim - on all of the projects. The beaded trim just adds a little pop. Very nice. g

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks,g! I agree, if you can find the right trim, it can really elevate a project.

      Delete
  3. Such a lovely combo ... FIESTA ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I definitely need to try my hand at those pillows and that table runner. Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that dress! I especially like the way you matched the plaid to form the smaller squared down the center, it really sets off the larger squares of the fabric. I searched for this fabric from the moment I saw your dress, or something in the same size range in a very even plaid, but alas, I couldn't find anything.....until I looked in the sale section and bought the last piece! Yay! I'll make it without dying it although I love the color yours became. But I like the original color, too, and won't be competing with a table runner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, freemotion! Glad to hear that you got the last piece and hope your dress turns out great!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Revisiting a Pattern After Five Years

Have you ever used a sewing pattern and then immediately vowed never to sew it again? Well, I have. It all began in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I tackled sewing projects that were more challenging to help me grow as a seamstress. There was one pattern in particular that almost did me in, the Seamwork Penny shirt dress. The Penny dress pattern has a classic button-up dress shirt style bodice with a gathered skirt and pockets. It is a beautiful take on a shirt dress, and my sister and I loved it. The only downside is that it was recommended for intermediate-level sewists and I was only an adventurous beginner back then.  I think I had only ever made one button-up shirt before attempting this Penny Dress and it didn’t even have a collar! Despite all of this, I thought “Why not try it, what’s the worst that can happen?”  Thankfully the worst didn’t happen, and the dress turned out surprisingly wearable, but I had some intense frustration at the end. I...

Made By A Fabricista: A Simple Frock for Spring

Hello friends! I’m really into sewing and wearing tent dresses at the moment. A tent dress is basically a wide A-line style gown. For this month’s project, I’ve opted to try out The Assembly Line’s Square Neck Dress. This style is a little avant-garde in its enormity and shape, and boasts the squared neckline it’s named after, plus some cute hem side slits.  All that volume is fun to move around in, plus there’s loads of air circulation which is cooling. This dress’s main feature–its wide and high squared neckline–really piqued my interest recently, and I added it to my Make Nine plans for 2025. I find it so satisfying to check off those boxes as I sew!  This beautiful shirtweight linen is a color I simply adore; a muted medium blue. Stormy skies, worn-in denim, and ocean waves all come to mind, and that is exactly what I want to be all wrapped up in. While I think a wild or large print would be amazingly on display in this big canvas of a dress, I also thought that a subtle ...

Made By A Fabricista: Bold Aspen Dress for Spring

 As I write this in mid-April, central New Jersey weather is showing small signs of spring. My neighbor’s daffodils are blooming and our magnolia tree is trying to unfold its vibrant magenta petals. I am in the midst of preparing my wardrobe for the warmer months, even if we are still huddling against windy 30 degree days. For me, warm weather means linen. I love breathable, floaty linen sundresses and drapey, loose linen wide-leg pants. My vision for a spring piece was something bold and bright, inspired by the natural colors of blooming flowers, but also something that could transition well between the warmer and cooler months. When I saw Fabric Godmother’s Apsen Dress, I knew that it had the sensible transitional opportunities I was looking for while also providing a blank canvas for fun prints, patterns and colors. With the pattern in mind, I then turned to the stunning linen collection that Fabric Mart always has on hand to see what colors or patterns would best suit my visio...