[Kim]

I will be sewing another dress from silk dupioni and I would appreciate some help to make gathering the skirt portion go smoothly. I found that the dupioni was hard to gather. I did prewash, air dry and iron the fabric. I used my sewing machine and gathered, according to the pattern, two rows of stitches. It felt like the thread was sticking or catching in the silk when I pulled the threads. As I smoothed the ruffle along the waist, it felt like a lot of material to fit along the bodice bottom. The lining of tulle and voile was very easy and smooth to gather, a piece of cake. Should I use my serger to gather the skirt waist or try to ruffle it on my sewing machine? I have never done either one but I know there is a thread here in the forums. I loved sewing this pattern, the directions are great and it went together smoothly. This is only happening because of my fabric choice.

[KellyNYC]

Hmm. I used silk dupioni as well and don’t remember it being that bad. Maybe try a running stitch by hand with either silk or waxed thread?

[Reeni]

I found that when gathering the silk (I used China silk for lining) that I was hesitant to tug, but silk is pretty strong. I made the skirt a little fuller than the pattern called for and gathered with a thicker nylon thread to compensate for increased bulk. another option: try using elastic thread in the bobbin so it gathers it for you?

[Jennifer1568]

I made the skirt out of silk dupioni and didn’t have any problems gathering it. I think I finished the edges before gathering it.