Make something out of silk month

Little Hunting Creek has challenged herself to sew something from silk in February. Since January was my month to buy silk, I might as well join her to sew it up in February.

 Behold, 6 separate 5 yard pieces from the barrel of silk rolls near the door of SAS Fabrics near Los Angeles. All silks $2.99/yd.  That is not a typo.  The decimal point is in the correct position.  But, seriously.  Had it been any other store, I might have spent $90 for 3 yards (a blouse length) * $30/yd.

Large-scale roses on a silk crepe de chine in some of my favorite colors.

Silk habutai aka "China silk" in pink or black on white. It also comes in teal on white, similar to the teal of print #1 above.  Silk habutai makes an excellent breathable and static and cling-free lining.  Prewash before sewing and it's washable, too.

I sent a photo of silk print #3 to Shams and she sent me back to SAS to buy her some more.  She got all 4.3 yards left on the roll.  (You have to move quickly if you see something you like at SAS.)

I can't figure out what to make out of this watercolor-effect crepe de chine.  I don't have a fancy dress for those evenings when Bad Dad wants to dine out at fancy places.  (He reads the food and arts sections first, and dumps the sports section in the recycling bin without glancing at it. )

Print #6, another habutai, would make a lovely scarf to accompany this linen blouse I found at a thrift shop.  Two of the buttonholes had frayed so I embroidered hand-sewn buttonholes to reinforce them.

I've already used some of this piece to line a cotton stretch poplin sundress.  The poplin was also purchased at SAS for $5.99/pound.  I traced the pattern from Burda Style Magazine, 2011-02-101.  You can purchase a pdf of the bodice from the Burda Style website.

 After sewing a size 40 bodice with a center back invisible zipper, and lining it meticulously in silk, I realized it was too big.  I recut a size 38 bodice, self-lined it in stretch poplin, and omitted the zip.  Now, only the skirt lining is silk.  No one can tell the silk is there from the outside, but it feels lovely on.  I even added side seam pockets.

Burda's picture of the dress mislead me into thinking that the bodice is snug.  It's actually quite loose and looks better with a belt.

I know it's not a blizzard, but we did have some weather excitement today in Los Angeles.  We received two short bursts of hail.  Iris and her classmates are at Astrocamp this weekend, where they arrived safely, inching their way along mountain roads in a school bus while 8" of snow fell around them.

I hope you have a safe and warm weekend.  And join us in sewing with silk.

UPDATE:
You can see the dress on me in Promotion Ceremony Dress.  I wear this frequently and receive compliments every time.  Best of all, it has useful pockets.  FWIW, I throw the dress in the washing machine and line dry it.  So far, the silk is none the worse for the wear.