Some Work With Sequins
I have been hopelessly mesmerized by pretty much anything that sparkles for a long time. I have so many special memories as a young girl trying on ballgowns during shopping trips with my mom and grandmother; I was the ten year-old dragging all the evening wear into our fitting room just to play dress up. I also did the same thing with my Grammy’s vintage clothes. And I’ve always enjoyed the parade of sequin gowns on any given red carpet, if only for the inspiration and the glamour. What it boils down to for me is injecting a little something special into my closet. It’s fun to have a small slice of special event elegance in my everyday wardrobe.
Over the years I’ve probably sewn over 100 sequin garments, most of which are skirts and dresses, but I’ve also made accessories and tops, and now, jogger pants and a jumpsuit. Today I want to share a what I know about sewing with sequins, including some examples of things I’ve made and ideas to (hopefully) inspire you to sew something sparkly.
I use “sequin fabric” as a blanket term, but there are a variety of sequin fabrics out there. Stretch sequins can be used like ponte knits or jersey (as the name “stretch” implies), sequin lace and tulle are wonderful for overlays (they can be underlined too), and non-stretch woven with sequins (anything from taffeta to chiffon and various polyesters) can be used like any other woven. The sequins themselves can be sewn in a pattern or haphazardly (this is also described as “allover” sequins) and either completely flat against the fabric or with one side of the sequin disc free to flip to either side (think two-tone sequins). These are also called paliettes. The sequins themselves can be all sorts of shapes and flat or cupped or wavy. This blog post explains the different types of fabric quite well, and there are photos of each one. Helpful, since I don’t have enough fabric on hand to show examples of everything!
Cutting and sewing:
I’m afraid I don’t have any game-changing tips for sewing sequins. It’s as simple as taking it slow and being very, very careful. But I will offer this: fold your sequin fabric right sides together and wear safety glasses when you cut it out. The sequins will go everywhere! I use my heavy duty Fiskars to cut this fabric, and I have never had a problem. I would not recommend using paper scissors to cut sequin fabric, because there’s too great a chance you’ll just eat up the fabric as you sew it. Just use the good fabric scissors and sharpen them later.
Also wear safety glasses when you’re sewing. There’s a good chance of the needle breaking or sequins going flyin’, especially when you’re sewing over what I call a “junction” – when a bunch of seams meet (side seams of a skirt and side seams of the bodice, for example). Feed the sequin fabric through your machine with the sequin fabric on top whenever you can. It’s best to not have that fabric gliding over the feed dogs and sewing plate. It increases the chances that a sequin could break or get caught and fall down into the machine. This may happen anyway, just be sure to clean your machine after sewing a sequin garment.
There’s no hard and fast rule for this, except this: do not serge sequin fabric. It’s the fastest way to break a serger. How you finish the seams comes down to the type of fabric you’re working with, how the garment is being put together, and whether or not it’s lined. For sequin mesh fabrics that aren’t too itchy or uncomfortable against the skin and can go without a lining, bias tape is a nice option to finish the seams. For other garments that are lined, you can simply leave the seam allowances unfinished and press them open. Look at a bunch of garments at various stores when the holiday season rolls around this year – you’ll see lots of various finishes. I remember working on a skirt a few years ago and leaving the seam allowances unfinished and wondering if that was good quality. Then I saw that very thing on a bunch of garments at Nordstrom and J. Crew. If they can do it, we can too.
It’s best to remove paliettes from seam allowances, but it’s less of a concern with other sequin fabrics.
Always use a press-cloth for pressing sequin fabric. Most sequin fabrics are sewn onto synthetic fabrics so they won’t wrinkle much by default, but sometimes I’ll steam something from underneath if it’s been laying in a storage tub for a while.
For more: http://spandexcollection.com
Spandex Collection 256 W. 38 th Street New York, NY 10018
Phone: (212) 398-3006
Whatsapp : +1-646-520-7557
Email: sales@spandexcollection.com
Over the years I’ve probably sewn over 100 sequin garments, most of which are skirts and dresses, but I’ve also made accessories and tops, and now, jogger pants and a jumpsuit. Today I want to share a what I know about sewing with sequins, including some examples of things I’ve made and ideas to (hopefully) inspire you to sew something sparkly.
Fabric:
I use “sequin fabric” as a blanket term, but there are a variety of sequin fabrics out there. Stretch sequins can be used like ponte knits or jersey (as the name “stretch” implies), sequin lace and tulle are wonderful for overlays (they can be underlined too), and non-stretch woven with sequins (anything from taffeta to chiffon and various polyesters) can be used like any other woven. The sequins themselves can be sewn in a pattern or haphazardly (this is also described as “allover” sequins) and either completely flat against the fabric or with one side of the sequin disc free to flip to either side (think two-tone sequins). These are also called paliettes. The sequins themselves can be all sorts of shapes and flat or cupped or wavy. This blog post explains the different types of fabric quite well, and there are photos of each one. Helpful, since I don’t have enough fabric on hand to show examples of everything!
Needles:
I recommend Microtex 70 needles, however universal needles work well too.
No matter what needle you’re mistreatment, likelihood is sensible it'll break at some purpose. There square measurea great deal of recommendations for animal skin needles in several of the tutorials I’ve seen on-line, however that specific needle may be a poor selection. It’s vital to stitch through the sequins themselves, yes, however equally important that the cloth itself. we tend to don’t need to use a needle unnecessarily huge that it harms the material on the method. And I’m job myself out for that one, as a result of I suggested animal skin needles during this post from 2017. 🙂 I actually have used animal skin needles successfully on comes, however there’s extremely no ought to use that needle (which is sometimes costlier than Microtex sharps) once one thing else can get the task done higher.
Cutting and sewing:
I’m afraid I don’t have any game-changing tips for sewing sequins. It’s as simple as taking it slow and being very, very careful. But I will offer this: fold your sequin fabric right sides together and wear safety glasses when you cut it out. The sequins will go everywhere! I use my heavy duty Fiskars to cut this fabric, and I have never had a problem. I would not recommend using paper scissors to cut sequin fabric, because there’s too great a chance you’ll just eat up the fabric as you sew it. Just use the good fabric scissors and sharpen them later.
Also wear safety glasses when you’re sewing. There’s a good chance of the needle breaking or sequins going flyin’, especially when you’re sewing over what I call a “junction” – when a bunch of seams meet (side seams of a skirt and side seams of the bodice, for example). Feed the sequin fabric through your machine with the sequin fabric on top whenever you can. It’s best to not have that fabric gliding over the feed dogs and sewing plate. It increases the chances that a sequin could break or get caught and fall down into the machine. This may happen anyway, just be sure to clean your machine after sewing a sequin garment.
Seam finishes and pressing:
There’s no hard and fast rule for this, except this: do not serge sequin fabric. It’s the fastest way to break a serger. How you finish the seams comes down to the type of fabric you’re working with, how the garment is being put together, and whether or not it’s lined. For sequin mesh fabrics that aren’t too itchy or uncomfortable against the skin and can go without a lining, bias tape is a nice option to finish the seams. For other garments that are lined, you can simply leave the seam allowances unfinished and press them open. Look at a bunch of garments at various stores when the holiday season rolls around this year – you’ll see lots of various finishes. I remember working on a skirt a few years ago and leaving the seam allowances unfinished and wondering if that was good quality. Then I saw that very thing on a bunch of garments at Nordstrom and J. Crew. If they can do it, we can too.
It’s best to remove paliettes from seam allowances, but it’s less of a concern with other sequin fabrics.
Always use a press-cloth for pressing sequin fabric. Most sequin fabrics are sewn onto synthetic fabrics so they won’t wrinkle much by default, but sometimes I’ll steam something from underneath if it’s been laying in a storage tub for a while.
Washing and storage:
I recommend washing sequin garments by hand, laying them flat to dry, and steaming if you need to. There’s no getting around the fact that sequin pieces require a little extra care to clean, but the other side of that coin is that they aren’t worn as often as other things, so they don’t need to be washed as frequently.
I keep this sequin wrap skirt hung up in the closet because hanging it won’t stress the fabric or cause it to lose its shape over time, but I keep most of my other sequin pieces folded flat in a long storage tub, separated by tissue. Sometimes the weight of sequin fabric can force the garment to “fall” if it’s hung up, so I avoid that and store them flat.
I recommend washing sequin garments by hand, laying them flat to dry, and steaming if you need to. There’s no getting around the fact that sequin pieces require a little extra care to clean, but the other side of that coin is that they aren’t worn as often as other things, so they don’t need to be washed as frequently.
I keep this sequin wrap skirt hung up in the closet because hanging it won’t stress the fabric or cause it to lose its shape over time, but I keep most of my other sequin pieces folded flat in a long storage tub, separated by tissue. Sometimes the weight of sequin fabric can force the garment to “fall” if it’s hung up, so I avoid that and store them flat.
What to make with sequins:
Anything simple! Keep the seam count at a minimum, and avoid too many extra design details. Plan to give yourself two or three times the typical time you usually spend on sewing a garment on a sequin project. If you’re feeling ambitious, by all means, go for all the bells and whistles and ruffles and collars and crazy details. But in my experience, keeping things on a manageable level is better all around.
Anything simple! Keep the seam count at a minimum, and avoid too many extra design details. Plan to give yourself two or three times the typical time you usually spend on sewing a garment on a sequin project. If you’re feeling ambitious, by all means, go for all the bells and whistles and ruffles and collars and crazy details. But in my experience, keeping things on a manageable level is better all around.
To start 2019, I made a couple of sequin garments, a tote bag with a scrap of sequin fabric, and I embellished an old Hanes sweatshirt with embroidery and sequin heart appliques. That’s funny to me, because I’ve spent the past however many weeks of this year recovering from 2018 and easing my way into a fresh start. So sequins, Emily? Really? Makes me laugh, but these two pieces are a couple of my favorites to date ever.
For more: http://spandexcollection.com
Spandex Collection 256 W. 38 th Street New York, NY 10018
Phone: (212) 398-3006
Whatsapp : +1-646-520-7557
Email: sales@spandexcollection.com
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