Using Perfect Fuse Sheer I was able to manipulate a sheer silk gingham into a wearable skirt (without lining!) from my McCall’s skirt and top pattern – M7166. I haven’t sewn with a lightweight silk in a long time, not to mention a sheer, NOT to mention GATHERS.
Below are the techniques I used in fitting and sewing to make my skirt the best quality custom “made to measure” garment:
1) Used Perfect Fuse Sheer fusible interfacing- to make the yoke area of the skirt opaque (and modest!).
2) French seams in the side seams.
3) A little tip on gathers.
4) Tissue fitting/fabric fitting.
Perfect Fuse is a mainstay in my household, I don’t sew without it. This was a really fun project because I got to use the interfacing in a functional way! I interfaced only the front (outer layer) of the yoke. Perfect Fuse Sheer worked so well I didn’t need to fuse the facing too, one layer was sufficient. (I self-faced the inside layer of the yoke.) I then left the bottom half of the skirt unfused… you will see below, with the gathers it created a cool, slightly transparent look around my legs.
Perfect Fuse Sheer from Palmer/Pletsch
Easy French Seams:
I think French Seams are the best way to finish side seams in a sheer fabric. I add a few more steps, but it makes the cleanest french seam. Once you ingrain these steps into all of your sewing, the extra step actually makes everything else go faster.
After sewing the wrong sides together so the raw edges are on the right side of the skirt, I trim down the seam allowance and then press the it open (flat). IMPORTANT extra step: Pressing the seam allowance open will make sure that when you fold the right sides together you will get a crisp fold with the stitching line perfectly on the edge, making it easy to encase the seam allowance and have a flat french seam.
Gathering Tip:
Mamma always says use 2, sometimes 3 rows of basting stitches to get the finest gathers in the land. When setting in your skirt to the yoke, sew close to your innermost basting stitch and you won’t get any pleats in your gathers. OH and always use LOTS of pins, they will help you evenly distribute your gathers around the skirt, and yes, I sew over my pins! Haha.
All of these sewing tips and more can be found in the Palmer/Pletsch Books and DVD’s!
Almost finished- Just need to fabric fit. I realized even a silk woven stretches quite a bit… I was also not sure if the skirt would be more flattering if I had it sitting at my hips, or at my true waist (high waist as the ready-to-wearer’s like to call it), so I left it a little bigger.
In the end I liked it better at my high waist so I had to take it in from the tops of the side seams to nothing at the hip.
Hope you too will enjoy the sheer genius of sewing with Perfect Fuse interfacing products! Thanks for reading the blog!
XMelissa
The End!
