Date: 10/22/09 11:57 PM

I am finally starting to buy the supplies for my daughter's wedding dress. I am going to make it out of silk - silk taffeta, I think. (Unless someone has a reason why that would be bad.) What size thread should I use? I use #50 for sewing on cotton, but mostly I quilt. I have used polyester for garment sewing, but I have never sewn on silk before.

It is a good thing that I am so crazy about this girl, because I wouldn't do it for anyone else. Fortunately, my other child is a boy.

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Barb

Reply to Franksdottir
Date: 10/23/09 3:44 AM

Generally speaking with silk fabric, cotton or silk thread can be used. A finer thread would only be needed if you were using a very light weight fabric.
For taffeta, both Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy and Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing guide suggested a good quality basic cotton. For hand sewing, Claire Shaeffer suggested silk or cotton.

Both books have some excellent tips on sewing taffeta. I got both books at Amazon and think they are well worth having for reference. Working on my DD wedding dress gave me the excuse to buy some wonderful books.

Generally both books warn about super tight fitting dresses putting stress on seams and for a fitted dress you would want it underlined to give the stress points stability. Sandra Betzina suggested underlining with silk organza to help with wrinkling.
Claire Shaeffer said the silk taffeta that is more tightly woven, more threads to the inch, is the best (and more expensive) and will slip less and ravel less. You can test a fabric by running you thumbnail across the fabric and if the warp yarns separate, the taffeta is loosely woven and the seams will slip and the fabric will ravel.
She also said when buying taffeta, especially silk, to make sure it is put on a card board roll as it is easily "bruised by folding" and can end up with permanent fold marks.
She also said to "make a test garment to perfect the fit, to practice your sewing techniques and to avoid over-handling the taffeta." Only very fine silk pins or fine needles should be used in the seam allowance as they can mar the fabric. When cutting the fabric out, use weights in non seam allowance areas. Care needs to be taken in pressing as well.

Above was the basic general information and there is many more tips about the fabric in both books. It is amazing the different types of taffeta available, this is what is listed in the book: Antique taffeta, Faille taffeta, Iridescent taffeta, Moire taffeta, Paper taffeta, Pigmented taffeta, Tissue taffeta. They vary is weight and stiffness.

I've never sewn on silk taffeta, but if for any reason you think this fabric might be a challenge, I would suggest buying a sample piece and do some practice on it. I have no doubt it would make a beautiful dress.

If desired I could list more tips from the books.
I can't wait to see what the dress will look like. Best of luck.

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Martha

Reply to MarthaA24
Date: 10/23/09 8:59 PM

Thank you so much for all of your help. I will get both of those books. This was so helpful of you.

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Barb