A while back, Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow was handing out challenges and I put up my hand, shouting ” Me! Me! Give me a sewing challenge!”. My challenge….silk. I thought sewing silk would be quite the challenge…slippery, slinky fabric trying to run away from me with every stitch…. but it seems that the real challenge was finding some nice silk to purchase…

After checking out my local store… with no luck, I found this Brushstroke Branches Silk Charmeuse….  I ordered two yards. Oh my gosh…it’s so lovely!!

I now had this gorgeous piece of silk…now the question was…what should I make? I knew it would make a beautiful kimono style dress…still kinda wish I had gone that route… but instead, I decided to just go all the way and make a button up shirt. There was that moment of terror as I made the first cut into the fabric but once I had…I was committed.

And you know what? It wasn’t so bad at all! In fact, I found it really nice to work with. I decided to use Burda 6848, a shirt I had made twice before and knew the fit. I would suggest using  a TNT pattern when sewing with your most precious fabrics! Saves on the tissues to wipe up the tears.

I don’t really have any good tips for sewing silk for you other than….choose a fabric you love so that it is worth the effort, take your time, do lots of handstitching… and enjoy the process!

I made this faux leather skirt (M6706) to match and love the two together. I think that…no… I KNOW that I will wear this shirt A LOT! It just feels so nice…

Thanks Gillian for the challenge!!