I guess it's not a good idea to speak negatively about your fabric (as I did about the leopard print in my last post) until you have actually sewn it LOL!!! Looks like the boxing gloves are on and this fabric is getting me back and big time!!! Of course my last post was just in good fun and I was only joking but it turns out I do have a bit of a problem----I'm having a hard time sewing the fabric due to skip stitches. The one way stretch knit fabric has some sort of slick finish/surface which makes it hard to sew through---resulting in skipped stitches. Of course I've tried every sewing needle (upgraded to microtex, even tried a jean needle) to see if I could alleviate the problem.
(The leopard print fabric)
It's not my sewing machine because I was at Mr. Jim's sewing studio and experienced the same problem with 2 other machines. I serged most of the edges which actually worked fine since there's 4 threads involved. I'd just like to sew in all my darts without skipped stitches. So, I'm looking for suggestions/tips please. It's rare for me to have this problem and when I did again it was easily alleviated by switching needles. I hope to figure this out so I can wear this dress and get back to my other sewing goals for the month. I'm not letting this fabric get the best of me......... Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!! Side seams are fine with my serger, I just don't want my darts to have any skipped stitches.
Try using a larger jersey knit needle - a 90 or 100 worked for me when I had similar issues. It'll give just a hair more time for the needle to penetrate your fabric and make the stitch. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWould adjusting the stretch length help?
ReplyDeleteHas the fabric been prewashed? I generally have had problems with spandex bathing suit fabric and a microtex needle worked for me. But, you've already tried that. I'd try a larger needle size as someone else suggested.
ReplyDeleteis it stuttering against the foot. I was sewing with a slick coated fabric recently and found that a teflon foot cured my skipped stitches.
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problem in the past. My solution was to just use my overlocker and coverstitch on the garment which was not ideal. Please do a follow up post if you find a solution as this has bugged me for a while.
ReplyDeleteYou can cut strips of tearaway embroidery stabilizer and slide under the fabric and use washaway embroidery stabilizer (topper) on top to fool the presser foot and needle into thinking the fabric will behave. I use this technique for buttonholes too...everything tears away and you have perfect stitches. Marcy Tilton shows this in her seminars.
ReplyDelete