I should have known better.
not my best decision ever.
This was the second smokkr I ever handsewed. I made it for Yule in 2016, and it’s one of my best-fitting dresses. It has a center back (CB) seam, and I made the mistake of overlapping the edges rather than turning the seam allowances and whipping the turned edges together. Because I sewed through raw edges, and because it’s pretty close to the body, those edges started to fray away.
learn from my fail.
This is what happens when you don’t protect your edges. I regret this choice.
I decided to bind the edge.
I had a bit of dupioni silk left over from another project (I bought it from Silk Baron). I cut a strip on the grain and folded it like bias tape, then hand stitched it over the frayed edge. I did find that the silk wanted to fray like crazy as I cut it, and a swipe of a washable glue stick took care of that easily.
I’m pretty good at even stitching…
…if I do say so myself.
pin pin, pinny pin pin.
I don’t like using pins; I feel like they distort the fabric and like to get stuck in my hands, but sometimes you just can’t use sewing clips.
close the seam.
Lastly, I sewed the bound edge back down and closed the seam. I now have a strip of silk down the back of my dress, for which I have no documentation. I don’t care. It looks nice and it’s no longer falling apart. Can’t really ask for more. (Okay, yes, I could wish for documentation, but let’s manage our expectations.)