I don’t know about you, but to me there are a couple of times in the year that make me look back and think about what I have accomplished… or not!
Times like Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, New Year…my birthday… Coïncidence or not, all these come together in a row to me: Birthday in October and then Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.
So… what am I sew thankful for???... Well… I’m thankful for being able to sew for my family!... Especially now for my teen girl that is so pattern picky… She was my challenge for the past month. She asked me to sew the Modern Moto Jacket in leather!
I started to check the pattern. It calls for woven, but it also says that “the lining should be close to the same stretch percentage as the outer and one of the suggested fabrics is Faux Leather. So I bought some black Faux Leather (sooo much less expensive than real leather) and went for it!
Well… not so fast… Sewing faux leather has its tricks!
Here are a few tips that you may want to consider while sewing faux leather:
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Needle – Every hole you make will stay there forever, so you better have good sharp needles and practice before you get serious with your pattern.
That being said, you can’t use pins because they would leave marks, holes in parts of your leather fabric where they’re not supposed to be. I used clips and pattern weights to hold leather in place;
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Sewing foot – As pointed before, things may get sticky. You can use a non-metal sewing foot (teflon or roller foot) so that it doesn’t stick to the fabric.
The other option is to place see through paper between the sewing foot and the leather. It won’t get sticky, but I only use this option as a last resource.
Another way is to put a strap of wax under the regular pressure foot.
- Thread – Try to use polyester or nylon thread instead of cotton ones. It’s the best when sewing leather.
Well… That’s pretty much it!
I can tell you that this jacket was truly a labor of patience and love. I made some alterations to the pattern to suit better my girl’s requests, but the real challenge was to topstitch everything and to find the right notions. I figured I complicated the process because I used a couple of photos from Pinterest and fashion magazines as inspiration too, but it was so worth it! Don’t you think?
(Written by: Dora Serrano)
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This post contains affiliate links which means the price of the patterns and/or fabric stays the same for you, but I’ll get a small percentage if you buy through my links.
