Sticky fabrics are hard to work with! HELP!

Today I wish to share some simple tricks while working with sticky fabrics.

Some fabrics such as leatherette and vinyl can be quite challenging to sew through with a machine as they tend to have a slightly sticky surface. As a result they may now flow through the machine as well as cotton would. There are ways around this.

Before you start you may want to ensure that you have suitable sewing needles. Your usual ones may not be strong enough to pass such materials with ease and may result in a number of skipped stitches and worn out needles. Sadly vinyls and pleathers are not able to heal once punctured but thankfully there are needles that are designed for such projects and are widely available. Denim and Leather needles work fine. 

One way to reduce friction is by using a Teflon foot. They basically replace your usual metal foot and work the same way. They are pretty cheap and easy to access. Highly recommended that if you plan to work with a lot of such materials.

Alternatively, you can separate the foot and the fabric with a layer of tissue paper. You can reduce wastage by cutting it into strips and you can simply tear the paper off without disrupting the stitching.

My method when I worked on the belt for my Suzaku belt is simply covering it with talcum power. Most households will have it and can be accessed quickly but it may cause a bit of a mess so you best be prepared to bring towels and clean the machine and the sewing area when you are done. I just simply got a wet cloth and washed it off when I was done. Sadly not all fabrics are suitable for washing so be careful!

While on topic I wish to address that while cutting and patterning these fabrics it is not advisable to use pins on areas that will eventually be shown on the costume. I try to use objects nearby to weigh them down. From experience PVC in particular grips to quite well when cutting with the reverse sides facing outside. Rotary cutters tend to be better than scissors when it comes to straight lines. Be sure to use a large cutting board and a ruler.