Tips For Sewing Slippery Fabric

Learn how to keep your fabric layers evenly secured when sewing slippery fabrics, such as minky, velvet, silk, chiffon, or even a slinky knit. Nicki LaFoille walks you through nine practical tips to help you avoid creeping seams and when working with napped or otherwise slippery fabric.

Nicki discusses tools you can use when sewing slippery fabric to ensure success. These include pins (and lots of them!), tissue paper, a walking foot, a glue stick, and temporary spray adhesive. Nicki demonstrates how to use each of these tools to decrease the amount of travel the fabric experiences when being guided under the presser foot in two layers.

Nicki also discusses techniques you can employ when sewing slinky fabrics, such as pinning parallel to the seamline, decreasing the presser foot pressure, using a shorter stitch length, and holding the fabric taut while sewing, which only works with woven fabrics cut on the straight grain.

Working with a fabric that tends to shift and creep when sewing is frustrating, but by using one (or several) of these tips, you’ll be able to tame these beautiful fabrics and incorporate them into your sewing projects.

When fabric layers don’t stay even, reference this video to make your sewing room experience successful.

Get more useful sewing tips here:
Tips for Sewing Silk
Tips for Sewing with Minky