Dupioni Silk-Amazing!!

The red fabric in this quilt is the Dupioni

I have sewn and quilted with Dupioni Silk just a little, but I am planning on doing much more!! I absolutely love the look of the silk when quilted. There is such a beautiful sheen with this fabric, and the shadows that are created with the quilting stitches are amazing!!

Sewing with silk can be a little challenging, although I think the Dupioni is easier than the others. I fused my silk to a very fine fusible called "PerfectFuse Light" by Palmer/Pletsch. This helped give the silk a little stability, kept it from sliding all over, and decreased the amount of unraveling that silk tends to do. I quilted it using 100wt silk thread with a 50wt cotton in the bobbin. This is just the second time I have quilted feathers, much still to learn!!

The history of silk is pretty amazing too!! One story I read said that the silk thread was discovered around 2600 BC! WOW!! The Dupioni silk is created when two different silk worms spin their cocoons so close together that they become entangled and create one kind of lumpy thread which is then made into the fabric. This makes the Dupioni a bit thicker and stiffer and more durable. It does give it a more uneven surface which, I think, gives it more amazing features.

And to think that this fabulous fabric is made from the cocoons of silk worms is incredible. These worms definitely have some wonderful spinning skills to be sure. :^)

I've got some beautiful lime green Dupioni silk that I have had my eye on in the fabric stash. Not quite sure what I am going to do with it yet but I will share it when done!!


Happy Quilting and keep those needles sharp!! Martha