{"id":1837,"date":"2009-11-20T14:00:18","date_gmt":"2009-11-20T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/?p=1249"},"modified":"2019-02-05T11:29:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T01:29:52","slug":"tips-for-sewing-with-fleece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/tips-for-sewing-with-fleece\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for sewing with Fleece"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samantha emailed me as her sewing machine was “eating her fleece”<\/strong> which was making her a little frustrated. I understand the feeling\u00a0as I have an expensive embroidery machine that seems to jam every time I use it and now I am scared to use it!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I find fleece\u00a0so easy….. so I am amazed that some people think fleece is a difficult fabric to work with.<\/p>\n

I guess I have picked up tips from taking sewing lessons, just from experimenting over the years, that make it seem so\u00a0simple. So with this in mind,\u00a0I thought I’d better put together a few tips for those people who haven’t tried sewing with fleece before, so there’s no reason to be afraid!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For hand sewing:<\/strong><\/h1>\n
    \n
  • use a\u00a0strong thread<\/strong> and\u00a0small neat back-stitching<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    For machine sewing toys:<\/strong><\/h1>\n


    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Use a\u00a0universal needle or a ball point needle<\/strong> for kinit fabrics like fleece.<\/li>\n
    • Use a\u00a01\/4inch\/5mm seam allowance<\/strong>, unless the pattern instructions say otherwise) if you find your seams are rippling\/distorting \u2013 you can use a slightly larger seam allowance (5\/8 inch\/1cm)<\/li>\n
    • Use a\u00a0normal or slightly smaller stitch length for cotton fabrics<\/strong> and use a\u00a0normal or slightly longer stitch length for fleece or fabrics which are quite bulky<\/strong>.*<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      * To be honest – I really like to keep things simple so I have always used my ‘normal’ stitch setting which, on my sewing machine, is 2.5mm and a 5-6mm seam allowance for EVERYTHING!<\/p>\n

      And MY 3 best tips…<\/strong><\/h1>\n

      1. Start and finsh well! Sounds like something your Mum would tell you! : )<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Whenever I sew fleecy fabrics, I start about 1 cm along the seam I want to sew\u00a0and reverse stitch back to the beginning of the seam.\u00a0I do this with any fabric, to be honest, but occasionally , if I haven’t done this with\u00a0fleece it can get a bit chewed up.\u00a0(I also end off using a reverse stitch at the end of the seam too.)<\/p>\n

      2. Tidy as you go!<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Cut off all your \u2018starting and finishing\u2019 threads as you go so you won\u2019t end up getting them caught in your seams as you sew. The worst thing I did whilst cutting off threads was to nick a hole in the side of a rhino, which I was making as a gift for a colleague. I didn\u2019t have time to make another one so I patched him with \u201cFray \u2013 Stop\u201d but he didn\u2019t look his best!<\/p>\n

      Saving the best ’til last – the\u00a0BEST tip EVER\u00a0for sewing with fleece!<\/strong><\/h1>\n

      3. PIN, PIN and PIN some more!<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Sounds so simple to say, ‘Use LOTS\u00a0of pins’ BUT it truly is a matter of ‘the more the merrier’!<\/p>\n

      I find it best\u00a0to pin on one side… say every 2 cm\/inch and then turn the pieces over and pin in between the pins from the other side. (so you end up with one pin from the front, one pin from the back along the whole seam) There’s absolutely no way your pieces can slip and you’ll have beatiful even and accurate seams every time! It\u2019s a real pain to have to unpick the pieces if they slip when you sew and I talk from experience – I\u2019ve had to do it a few times and it\u2019s very annoying. Lop-sided ears aren\u2019t always as cute as you\u2019d think!<\/p>\n

      I hope these simple tips will help you sew some gorgeous looking toys! Please feel free to share any tips you have discovered yourself, as I like to say, “share the love”<\/strong><\/p>\n


      \n .<\/span><\/strong>
      \n\"\"
      \n .<\/span><\/p>\n

      Happy sewing,
      \nPauline<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Samantha emailed me as her sewing machine was “eating her fleece” which was making her a little frustrated. I understand the feeling\u00a0as I have an expensive embroidery machine that seems to jam every time I use it and now I am scared to use it! I find fleece\u00a0so easy….. so I am amazed that some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-day-in-my-life","category-blog","category-tips-tricks"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}