This project was a long time coming….and when I say long, I mean looonnnggg. After having my son in January 2021, two of my sisters came to visit me and of course meet their new baby nephew. One of my sisters showed me a black mesh duster she saw online (I think on Pinterest). The duster had an Ankara trim on the neckline and cuffs with feathers attached to it. It was gorgeous and my sister wanted me to recreate something similar to it for her and I said yes.
As much as I enjoy sewing for myself and getting my wardrobe where I desire it to be, there is a satisfaction I get when making clothes for someone else, especially special people in my life. Making something for my sister has been on my sewing bucket list for awhile so I was honored that she asked me and excited for what I would have to create for her. We went on a fabric shopping trip (my favorite type of shopping) together to see the options out there. Although she liked the style of the inspiration photo, she opted out of the Ankara trim and went for a satin trim instead. One of my sister’s favorite colors is pink, especially a blush pink and that was the color we were in search for. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the hue she desired so we went with this lovely light peachy colored satin. We also found a complimentary colored mesh fabric and feathered trim.
I took my sister’s measurements, drafted a pattern onto muslin and sewed up the muslin in just a few short hours. I did a quick fitting, made the adjustments to the muslin and was ready to go to begin making her duster.
But I just didn’t. LOL!
I had everything ready. I was going to use my muslin as my pattern pieces and since they were only basted together it would be easy to pick the stitches out when I was ready to use them. I obviously had the fabric and feathered trim from when my sister and I went fabric shopping but I still didn’t start this project. With me going back to work shortly after my sisters visited and juggling my new role as a mom, my creative projects really took a back seat. I gradually got back into it more around the summer time and eventually by the end of the year came back around to this project.
I was on video chat with a friend and we decided to sew together and while I was trying to choose the next project to work on, she suggested I work on the duster and challenged me to document the process on Instagram. I took on her challenge and did just that. In one night, I completed everything but the satin and feather trim detail on both sleeves, all while documenting the process on my Instagram stories. It was late at night and I kept attaching the cuff pieces to the sleeves incorrectly so I put it down for the night to hopefully tackle it the next day. Next day ended up being almost two years later. *Face palm*
In those two years you better believe my sister side-eyed me many times (playfully of course) when she would visit and see her unfinished duster chilling on my dress form while I showed her other projects I started and finished. LOL! Then in late 2023, I finally said enough was enough and finished the duster. I was running into similar issues as the last time I worked on the duster but told myself if I put this project down again it would be another two years and I didn’t want that. Mentally, it stifles my creativity seeing too many unfinished projects lingering, especially if it’s meant for someone else.
I thank God for that focus to finish it because this duster came out more beautiful than I imagined! Since I was using mesh, I did french seams all throughout the garment to ensure the inside looked just as good as the outside, since the material shows everything. I would have given the garment my folded clothing label, but again, it’s mesh and I personally would not like the look of a label sticking out against the mesh. I will eventually get the labels that are not folded to prevent this dilemma when making certain garments like this.
I forgot to mention that this was my first time working with mesh and boy does that fabric know how to fray on sight but it wasn’t as finicky as I anticipated. I used a microtex needle and sewed at a slow to medium speed to ensure I didn’t cause any ripples in my seams or cause my fabric to get stuck in my feed dog (the little teeth under need your needle that move your fabric as you sew). Thankfully, I already had experience with feathered trim so I knew what to expect and took necessary precautions from my mistakes in the past. If you are working with feathered trim, definitely take your time when stitching it to your garment, especially if you are working with a domestic sewing machine. Between the feather stems and adhesive that is all within the trim, your needle can sometimes run into some difficulty stitching through it and your needle can get some adhesive on it so in that case it would need to be changed out before working on other parts of your garment.
When my sister came to town to visit some months back and finally saw the finished duster she loved it so much. It fits and suits her so well. Nothing like your labor of love bringing joy to the one it’s made for. I kept her duster until I got some pictures and videos of the final garment. In the photos I styled the duster with the Claudia Tank I recently made, distressed jeans from JC Penney and comfy white wedged sandals from TJ Maxx. After I captured the final look, I then sent her off with it. Not gonna lie, it was sad to see it go. Not only did it live on my dress form for several years, it came out so good that I wanted to keep it for myself! I’m the younger sister so technically her clothes are my clothes but that set up doesn’t work as well when you both live in two different states. Whomp, whomp! I keep thinking about it so I will eventually make myself one because somebody’s brunch or one of these date nights with my husband needs to see me in a duster like this.
Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this look. I’ll catch y’all at my next make!
Love,
Christine
Create & Pray 