Garden of Temptation

As you have guessed from the title, I gave in to temptation. After all, who wouldn’t?

I love a bit of luxury in my wardrobe and while going through the sale box of the Liberty fabric sale, I saw this gorgeous printed silk satin and imagined a soft and sumptuous shirt slithering on my skin. And at half the price, it’s a bargain. Well, not really a bargain as it’s still expensive. But as fools go, I was deaf to the painful screams my wallet was emitting and gave in. As soon as I opened up the fabric, the name of the print stared back at me ‘Garden of Temptation!’ I’m sure this was pre-emptive.

I didn’t have to do much with the patterns as I had recently been using a side-seamless shirt pattern that allows the front and back pieces to be cut in one continuous piece. The pleats at the back of the shirt are dictated by the width of the fabric so the wider the fabric, the bigger the pleats.

Then it dawned on me, my blindness to the seduction of silk satin blurred the stress I encountered previously in cutting and sewing a fabric that is constantly moving. For a moment I hesitated, but as the wind blew through the window, the silk wafted into the air and gently brushed my face with its silky seduction, reassuring me that it was going to be alright. Ok! That didn’t happen. I gritted my teeth and told myself off for losing the plot and proceeded to carefully lay the fabric on the floor, ready to be pinned and cut.

The only consolation I got from cutting the fabric was that I recently went to Kyoto and splurged on some really really expensive professional tailor shears from Aritsugu. My sister went in there to buy their hand forged kitchen knives for a friend and while waiting, I had a look at all the amazing knives and kitchen utilities for sale. And then I saw a row of tailor’s shears, gleaming in the spotlight. The store assistant asked if I wanted to have a look. Out of curiosity, I did and when I held the shears (it had to be the most expensive one), it felt like none of the other shears I had handled before. It was light and operating the shears was effortless. My mom and sis nudged at me and simple uttered ‘Get it! Tool of your trade!’ So I did! I even had my name engraved on it.

Being a professional tailor shears, the sales assistant kept reminding me to wipe it clean every time I use it so it is always in optimal condition. After I paid, she asked if I was a Fashion Designer. I said I’m a pattern cutter, showed her a few stuff I made (mom was wearing clothes that I made for her) and as we left, I saw all the other shop assistants staring at mom. Gossip spreads fast.

Anyway, these shears cut the silk fabric without any effort at all. No snagging, no distortion of the fabric when cutting a curve and best of all, no stress. Best investment ever. Now, I just need to buy insurance for it!

I think wine definitely helped. Not that I am encouraging drinking and sewing. Health and safety must always come first but it helped with my jitters. It was just a tiny glass. But sewing went by quickly and at one point, I was hyper-concentrating that my face looked like I was constipated.

When it was done, I sighed a sigh of relief and whooped a whoop of delight.

And I was right, nothing can beat the feeling of silk on the skin. And as for the remnant, I’m using it to brush my wallet to ease the pain!