Pattern #8074 - sewing pleather

Today I want to address the challenge of sewing with pleather or fake leather or vinyl.

Costume sewing often requires using fabrics that we may not normally deal with only sewing fashion, such as fur and spandex and ... leather - real and fake.

There are so many nice options. Back in the day we often had to wrestle with upholstery vinyl which is REALLY hard to sew. Now aways, I prefer a thinner fabric and fuse interfacing on for the stiffness needed.

OF COURSE do a test with a scrap of fabric and interfacing to see how hot you can get your iron. Pleather and other vinyls will melt. But, you would be surprised how often a very hot iron can be used ... no problem ... but test first!

Trying to stitch and turn a long strap or belt can be nearly impossible. The pleather sticks to itself making the turning process super, super frustrating. And if you manage to do it, all the struggling makes the straps look all crinkled and bad. 

So, for this pattern I recommend folding and pressing the edges of the straps and belts, then 

topstitching along the sides. I find a few pins are needed to keep the piece from getting twisted. But you don't want to pin very much. Use the finest pins you can find and only pin near the edge.

Notice I am using a foot made with silicone. It is a miracle!!! The sticky pleather just slides under it, no problem. If you don't have one of these feet, like I didn't for most of my life, cut strips off the edges of the tissue pattern sheets and put that under your sewing machine foot and stitch right through it. Then tear the tissue paper away after you are finished sewing.

The finished straps are then machine basted to the back pieces.

It is best to use a longer stitch when sewing any kind of leather or vinyl. I remember one time when I was still working in the professional shops in New York, the shop head reminded someone who was about to sew some leather to use a long stitch. She said to him ... "remember ... tear on the dotted line!"

Leather and vinyl are more likely to tear if small stitches are used.

After the second layer of the back piece is attached, turn and press it leaving one whole side open. 

I prefer not to turn this piece through tiny opening for the same reason I made the straps with one turning. Vinyl sticks to itself so can be difficult to turn and can look really beat up if too much effort has been used while turning.

Then, again pinning with few, very fine pins along the edge.

So the entire piece can be edge stitched all around the perimeter. And then the belt loops topstitched in place.

The armband is made in a similar fashion.

Now this top is made from something called Fused Leather and is available at Fabric.com. Follow this link.

It is made with a very, very thin layer of actual leather on a slightly stretchy backing. So you can make this top fit pretty tightly.

So, this fabric like any other leather or vinyl should be sewn with the following guidelines.
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#1 - try to only pin in the seam allowances or near the edge when sewing, cutting or fitting.
#2 - use very fine pins, unless it is a heavy fabric and needs stronger pins
#3 - stitch with a LONG machine stitch
#4 - use a silicone foot or pattern paper tissue under the presser foot if fabric is sticking.