Well, this sewing of faux fur is quite, well,,,,spittable! In the two hours I worked on this project yesterday I vacuumed all my clothes and the entire sewing room twice! When I started to cough it up I went into my painting gear and found a mask to wear. That really helped and I highly advise if you give this fabric a try.This project definitely has its challenges. On my vertical seams I cut off one half inch of the seam allowance. Then I shaved the fur off with my pelican billed scissors an additional 1/8th inch. I got the best results then sewing two pieces of fur together with a straight stitch on a 1/8 inch SA. I then zigzagged to enclose all the edges. I guess this amounts to the same as serging but this needed a lot of control and I really don't think I could have pulled it off in the serger.
You can see in this pic that the left side is a clean cut. On the right side of the pencil is the 1/8th inch shaved back area. Before sewing a seam I used 1/4 inch masking tape to tape down and hold back the fur. 
This kept it out of the way while sewing. I left long tails on the tape and if you pull in the direction of the nap it is a clean pull. You can see also how my seams looked when done.
I am definitely not an expert on this stuff and it is a definite learn as you go project. But given the amount of fluff around the studio, I am not sure when I will try this again! If anyone has a better way of doing things please let me know. I am a newbie on this one. Thanks.
I aslo did some trial runs on snap installation on the faux tooled leather. I hit Joanns today and found just what I needed. I had also been toying with the idea of bronze-y snaps on the placket. Then Summerset mentioned it on a comment and I decided to try a sample. I am really pleased with this look and it is more in the casual vein I was going for. Thanks for the inspiration, Summerset. I also played with topstitching and have decided to use a buttonhole twist and larger stitch to look more "authentic." I think I will try a few more samples of that tomorrow. This fur business is not one I will try often. It is just a real PITA and who needs to cough up furballs in the middle of the night? .......Bunny
LOL you look like you're going to war.. but lol I guess in a way you were.
ReplyDeleteVelvet can be a pain too.. I use to make a lot of velvet doll dresses and my poor cutting table and floor would always be covered in the fuzz..
You're very welcome - glad you at least another idea to try!
ReplyDeleteOh the fur, that brings back memories of making the snow white channeled mink vintage jacket! Beautiful, but messy. I didn't use tape on the seams, but after stitching, I used a couple of different hair combs with wide and fine teeth to comb out the seam so that it couldn't be seen where the fur joined. I just had that fur out last night trying to figure out what to do with the BOH collar. It didn't make the cut, so back into storage it went.
That first photo is hilarious! I can sympathize on the "fuzzies" that seem to go everywhere when sewing with faux fur. However, you seem to have it under control. I can't wait to see the finished garment.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's not a picture I expected to see! But, you do look lovely in a face mask, and it's good to be reminded that beautiful results require hard work. Keep it up, I know it will be a real head-turner when you're finished!
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