How I Care for Second Hand Silk

Giving a Vintage Betsy Johnson Dress a New Life

A little while ago, while thrifting, I found a Betsy Johnson dress. It was silk, had a bright pattern with a black background, and had a few holes that were caused by regular wear.

I love silk and knew that I had the skills to fix this little dress, so I took it home with me for the bargain price of $7.

I wanted to save this dress for a few reasons. First, I knew I could do it. I have experience from my past life doing costumes for TV, so I have worked with silk that needed mending in the past. I liked the pattern; the bright colours on a black background are exactly what I like. Most of my clothes are black, and I love patterns, but finding patterns that are on a black base is surprisingly hard. And I liked that it is a long-sleeve dress. Silk is very warm, so that makes it a winter dress, but a winter dress needs to have long sleeves for me because I live in Toronto where the winters are cold. I was excited to have a cute date dress for the winter months.

As I'm sure you know, the fashion industry creates a great deal of environmental waste. One way that I like to counteract that, in my small way, is by buying second-hand and by mending my clothes, and focusing on natural fibres that will fully decompose at the end of their life.

The first thing I did to the dress was to put it in an airtight plastic bag, then put it in the freezer for 24 hours. This would kill any mites or bugs that might be on it, either from the previous life the dress lived, or from being in the thrift store. 

Then the dress was hand-washed. I just put it into a tub with some hot water (just hot enough to be bearable to touch), and some mild detergent. In this particular instance, I used a bit of Dr. Bronner's, but the type of detergent doesn't really matter. Just something gentle that you don't mind getting on your hands and that says on the label that it can safely be used to wash clothes. After soaking and gently agitating, it was rinsed then put into another bath with a little white vinegar. The vinegar helps to do a little more cleaning, deodorizes it and softens the fabric while protecting its colour.

Though this first wash was done by hand, for future washes I will be putting it into a mesh bag and washing it with all my other clothes on a warm cycle. Then letting it air dry. The dress says dry clean only, but in general, unless the garment has some extra delicate beading or something, it can usually be washed in a mesh bag and let air dry with zero problems.

The dress was gently wrung out and left to hang dry.

It was time to assess the true extent of the damage. But the dress was already looking so much better! The colours looked brighter and it flowed better. All from just getting a wash.

There were two fairly large holes that were frayed at the back. With some thread pulling distorting the pattern near the holes as well. But aside from that, the dress was well cared for. It looked like it had been washed a few times based on the fading of the fabric. But there were no stains or any other rips.

To start the patching, I looked through my fabric stash to find a fabric that was as close as possible in weight and drape to the fabric of the Betsy dress. I didn't have any silk, but I did have some modal that was flowy and fine enough to do the job. So, a couple of rectangles were cut.

The patch fabric was positioned to cover the holes with about a centimetre (~1/2 inch) of overlap on all sides. The goal at this point was to flat-line the existing fabric, give it extra strength where it is weak. I pinned the patch on, then with tiny back stitches sewed it flat to the inside of the Betsy dress fabric, avoiding joining it to the seam.

Then I whip-stitched around the frayed area, to keep it all flat and in place.

The edge of the patch was then sewn to the seam, keeping everything flat as if the patch was one with the original fabric.

Then I folded the seam flat and sewed the seam inward a little, sealing the frayed area in the seam. This dress is a flowy A-line so it can lose a little fabric into the seams without it affecting the overall look of the dress. I wouldn't do this on something that is more tailored.

The same process was done on the other holes and frays.

Now on the outside, there are barely visible stitches, ones that you really need to get close to see, and even when I know they are there, are hard to find.

It flows beautifully and I look forward to the occasion that comes up where I will get to wear it.

My love for patterns, part of what drew me to this dress, also shows up in my artwork. If you like intricate designs and collecting precious objects, you might want to check out what's in my shop.