4.2 how can I learn how to sew frightening fabrics

From: Christabel La Motte
So, you're in love with that lovely piece of velvet or silk chiffon or leather or PVC, but you've never sewed anything like that and you're afraid to give it a try? Well, a little caution is a good thing when working with delicate or pricey textiles: it can help keep you from making stupid mistakes. But total paranoia isn't necessary. A little forethought and maybe some special accessories, and those difficult fabrics may just end up being your favorite things to work with.

A few general hints: first of all, just because you've got an old sewing machine doesn't mean you can't work with spiffy fabrics. While you may need to make adjustments or use special attachments or accessories, most home sewing machines should be able to handle everything from sheers to light-to-medium vinyls, suedes, or leathers. If you have problems working with the material you've chosen, consult your manual: you may just need to do something as simple as use a special needle, switch threads, lengthen your stitches, or loosen your tension, or maybe just take your machine in for a tune-up. If you don't have a manual for your machine, try to get one. Machine dealers often can order manuals for their older models.

Secondly, test everything beforehand. Run test stitches on scraps of your fabric, to make sure any problems are dealt with BEFORE you begin working on the garment. If you're making something from a new pattern that you're unsure of, you may want to invest a little extra time and money in making a mock-up out of the cheapest stuff you can find, so you're prepared for any alterations BEFORE you start chopping up that $60 a yard brocade ...

Finally, invest a little extra in your tools. If your scissors and pins and seam rippers are old and dull, they may snag or damage your fabric. Make sure you're using the right size and style of machine needle for the weight and type of fabric: old, dull needles may snag your textile, while too-small ones may break and bend, or too-large ones may leave unwanted holes. I prefer the German-made Schmetz needles; they're very high quality, and have a wide variety of styles, including weights for extremely thin or thick fabrics and a nice range of leather/vinyl needles. They cost a bit more than domestic needles, but IMO they're well worth it. Good-quality thread will also make a surprising difference in the quality of your stitching and the performance of your machine. I usually use European long-fiber poly threads, like Metrosene or Gutermann. They're fine, smooth, and very strong, and they seem to work much better in my Pfaff than "wrapped" domestic threads like Talon or Dual Duty. Your mileage may vary: I've known machines that seemed to love the wrapped stuff. However, I'd advise you to stay away from that 4-for-a-dollar cheap poly thread you can find everywhere: it's thin, linty, and very breakage-prone. You do tend to get what you paid for, after all ...

Now, some specifics:

Delicates -- chiffon, organza, lace, light silks, and satins, etc.
The main problems you'll run into here are puckering and snagging. Make sure that all pins and sewing needles (machine and hand) are the appropriate light weight, preferably new-ish, and very sharp. Be very careful when pinning, as even fine, sharp pins may leave snags or holes if you pin in visible areas: you may wish to use pattern weights, or try to keep your pins in the seam allowances. If your fabric still snags, even with a fine machine needle, you may wish to try something like Schmetz' "Universal" needle rather than a normal sharp; it's a little easier on snag-prone fabrics. Also, if at all possible, try to avoid getting into situations where you have to rip out large sections of stitching. Even with a good, fine, sharp seam ripper, it's all too easy to slice up the fabric instead of the stitching. Work slowly and carefully so you can try to avoid mistakes in the first place.

Thin delicates have a nasty tendency to get sucked down inside the throat plate, especially near the edges of a piece. If you work with them a great deal, I'd strongly recommend getting a straight stitch throat plate for your machine. As the name implies, this can only be used when doing straight stitches on seams, hems, etc.; it has a much smaller needle opening than your standard zig-zag throat plate. (Matching straight- stitch feet are nice, but the throat plate is what will help prevent the fabric-clots-under-the-presser-foot syndrome.) One warning: be very alert when you use this plate, as it's all too easy to forget you have it on, switch to a zig-zag pattern, and end up with a broken needle flying in your eye, and possibly a machine in need of a tune-up ...

Delicates also tend to slide around a lot under the presser foot as you sew. Judicious pinning and/or basting can help out here. Another valuable aid is an accessory known as a walking foot. (If you have a newer Pfaff, their built in "dual feed" serves the same purpose.) This sliding is caused by the top layers of fabric lagging a bit behind the bottom layers, which are directly contacting the feed dogs. The walking foot (or dual feed) helps to keep the fabric layers advancing evenly: in effect, they work by feeding the fabric from both the top and the bottom. I'm a big booster of walking feet. They're an enormous help for working on slippery silks, satins, sheers, and velvets; they can help thick or oddly textured fabrics, including quilted pieces, move through evenly; and they can help you keep those carefully matched stripes and plaids properly aligned as you sew. If you don't have one of these puppies for your machine, I'd STRONGLY suggest looking into purchasing one.

Velvets, velveteen, stretch velvet
Much of the information for delicates applies here. Be careful with pinning and use a walking foot, since these fabrics are notorious for creeping around in unwanted directions as you sew. They tend to be a bit sturdier (especially cotton velvets), but you still don't want to rip out things unless it's absolutely necessary. If you're working on a non-washable velvet, make sure that any markings will not show on the finished side: some chalk pencils, etc., may not brush off cleanly, and may become set by dry cleaning. You may want to consider thread marking for dry-clean-only velvets.

Be especially careful when cutting out your pattern. Velvet is a nap fabric, and all pieces must be laid out and cut in the same direction, unless you *really* want your garment to look like it's made of two different shades of fabric.

Stretch velvet is basically a knit with a velvet-like pile. It can be handled like most ordinary knits of the same weight: just make sure that you're careful of the nap when cutting it out, and once again, a walking foot may make it easier to work with.

Use a delicate hand when pressing seams or the finished garment. Too high a heat, or too heavy a pressure, will leave very visible marks. If you do a lot of work with velvets, invest in a "velvet board" or "needle board" to help preserve the nap as you press your garments. If you only work with them occasionally, a scrap of velvet can serve the same purpose. The needle board or velvet scrap go on your ironing board, needles or nap side up. The garment is laid over them, nap/right side down. Gently pass your iron over the back of the garment; don't bear down. Light wrinkles may be removed by hanging the garment in the bathroom to steam while you take a nice, hot, steamy shower.

One final note: if you've never worked with velvet before, you'll be surprised at how much !#%^$!@^#$^ LINT it produces when you cut it. If you've got a little hand vacuum, get it out: you'll be needing it.

Leather, suede, vinyl, PVC
Unless you have a very heavy-duty industrial machine, stick to the lighter weights. Once you put a hole in these materials, it's there to stay, so be extra careful: use pattern weights, or only pin in the seam allowances. (I've actually used scotch tape to lay out pieces on PVC.) Also, be careful when transferring pattern markings, especially on leathers or suedes: if at all possible, keep them on the wrong side of the garment, so it won't be a problem if they don't come out. (Vinyls/PVCs, on the other hand, wipe clean easily. I actually use an old kohl eyeliner pencil for quick, temporary markings on the right side of my PVC yardage.)

Make sure to use the appropriate machine needle: leather/vinyl needles are sturdier and have knife-like edges to pierce through properly. As a general rule, you'll want to use longer stitch lengths than usual: too-close stitching may leave the material prone to tearing along the stitching lines. Yet again, a walking foot can help move the thicker layers around more easily. Vinyl and PVC has a nasty habit of sticking to itself, the machine, or the presser foot when you don't want it to. A walking foot or special Teflon-coated foot can help somewhat; placing a thin strip of tissue paper over the seam line and under the presser foot as you sew may be simpler. Just rip it away when you're done.

From: lune
I've usually experienced bunching because the PVC does not glide easily on my sewing machine. I sew tracing paper with it (which easily rips off after you're done) and I dust the fabric with baby powder so it moves easily.

From: Lady Bathory
I tried paper when i started sewing PVC & had poor results, because I usually sew it with reinforced seams & it doesn't rip out of them easily at all.

Baby powder is a good idea, as is silicone spray. A teflon foot for your machine helps, too, & reducing the foot's pressure...

I have the best results sewing with texturized PVC (the kind that has silly embossed print, like 'snakeskin' & stuff).

I just discovered a new product in Threads magazine called 'Stitch & Ditch'... a water-soluble seam stabilizer. This would work shitty w/velvets, obviously, but probably great with PVC. They are giving out free samples on their website, & i just sent for mine, so i guess i'll find out.

From: LadyRhye
The best thing for velvet is hand-basting before you sew. Honest. That's the absolute best. It takes longer, but the finished product is worth it, and, as you know, velvet does NOT like having seams ripped.

Another thing I can't live without anymore is a "walking foot" attachment for my sewing machine. They're pricy (mine was $100 for a Bernina) but worth it. They "walk" over the fabric instead of sliding and since it's the slide of the foot that encourages fabrics to slip, it minimizes slippage.

From: Gnat
First of all: sewing rubber. Difficult. First of all, you need a brand new needle *sharp*sharp*, a teflon foot, and a loooong stitch length. Rubber doesn't hold up too well when it's torn or punctured (just ask anyone who's put a fingernail through rubber gloves or stockings, or think of what happens to a balloon when you poke a pin into it), so sewing it may end up being more like a perforation to "tear here." So, it should be lined on the back when stitching. Maybe by glueing a sheet of cotton to the back of the rubber with rubber cement. I haven't tried this yet. I own a few stitched garments, but it's still a mystery to me how they keep it from tearing.

The two ways I can figure of how to pull a corset/bodice thing off.

1) Make the real supportive garment out of the denim like you would a normal corset. Make a separate bodice out of rubber to go over the top of that, but the rubber one would have no real support of its own. This is probably the safer and MUCH MUCH easier route. For seams, you can glue them with the normal method (sand, solvent, cement) and that'll hold up just fine.

2) Make the corset fully out of rubber. Catwoman's was like this. Liquid latex was poured over cotton so thickly that it was stiff as a board when it was done. Seams were put together with Cyno (superglue). No stretch at all. No boning needed. :)

And heck, there's no harm in tinkering around with those intertubes under your sewing machine, maybe just to experiment. Pull on those stitches hard, see if they tear.

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