Today I I have two great little tips for you that will make sewing softies from plush fabrics easier.
Have you ever sat down at the sewing machine with a softie piece pinned and ready to sew only to find that you can hardly fit it under the presser foot? I love to use faux fur, felted wool, and fleece when I make softies and I had this problem all the time until I discovered that you can actually raise the presser foot even higher than it's normal height to accomodate thick fabrics. Here's how:
Simply push up on the presser foot bar! It will raise the foot just high enough to fit your layers of thick fabric underneath. I do this every time I sew a softie, but for a long time I had no idea that it was possible to push the presser foot bar up higher.
And I'll bet you've had this experience, too. You sit down to sew two layers of thick fabric such as fleece or faux fur, insert the needle, lower the presser foot, and start stitching only to find that the stitches are having trouble getting started. The machine needle goes up and down, but the fabric doesn't move forward. Argh!
To get the stitches started, take both the top thread and the bobbin thread and wrap them around you pointer finger on your left hand. Then, as you begin to sew, give the threads a gentle tug to help the fabric engage with the feed dogs and begin to move. It works like a charm! No more getting stuck right when you are getting started.
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I have a new pattern in my shop today: Jeremy Giraffe. To make this guy you'll need a 1/2 yard of giraffe print fleece and a 1/4 yard of light brown fleece.
He's quick and straightforward to sew. My pattern includes step-by-step photos and lots more great tips including the best way to safely put poly pellets into a softie for weight. I have a full resource list in the pattern instructions if you aren't sure where to find giraffe print fleece or pellets.
You can get the Jeremy Giraffe pattern in my Etsy shop and my Craftsy pattern shop.
So helpful! You’re a genius 🙂
Thank you, Stacey!
Oh, my! I love giraffes! I think I’ll go add the pattern to my Etsy favorites so I can buy it as a mid-winter pick me up. If I see the fleece the next time I’m in the store, I’ll stock up (maybe I’ll make a whole herd… or whatever they call a bunch of giraffes).
I love people who find getting a new sewing pattern to be a mid-winter pick me up!!
Thanks for the info! I think you are brilliant!
GREAT tips! Thanks SO much for sharing!
Judi
Gorgeous Giraffe!
boy, I’ve sewn for many, many years and didn’t know that. Thanks for the tip.
I love your tip! Thanks so much, I fight with this all the time and often I use the tip of my awl to push the fabric but it’s very awkward.
I can’t wait to try this, thanks.
I'm so glad, Heather. And I do love my awl. That's a great tool deserving of its own post.
Thank you for this! I was trying to get some thick fabric under the foot and it wouldn’t work. But your tip totally worked!
Thank you SO much for this useful tip … was having problems sewing 6 layers of heavy cotton which didn’t work until I used the tugging method. So useful thank you !
Thank you so much for sharing these helpful tips!
You’re welcome, Jackie.
That worked perfectly. Thank you!
I came into your site watching you sew an elephant plush toy
and now can’t seem to find it anywhere.
Could you please redirect me to where that place is?
You have a ‘hand’; I feel lucky to have found you.
Hi Lorna,
I don’t have a video of me sewing an elephant plush toy. I do have a pattern for one in my online shop.
Thankyou so so much . I was sat here for an hour reading manual, which made no sense.
I can now get on with the pillow .
Kind regards letty
I can not thank you enough for this post. These two “essential tricks” saved the day while I finish up Christmas gifts. Thank you, again and wishing you the best Christmas ever!
great article and thank u for the info! well i’m running into a problem currently. I make crochet hats and use a lot of super bulky yarn because i love the thickness feel to it. I’ve just recently started wanting to sew my company tag on my hats so i tried sewing by hand first the other day, but with the interfacing on my tag is hard enough to puke the needle through let alone going through another layer of my super bulky thick yarn. I recently bought a heavy duty singer 4423, haven’t used it yet and am wondering what type of needle I’d need, I’m thinking ballpoint 16? would that be strong enough? btw i’m brand new to using a sewing machine so i’d have to learn that from scratch maybe buying something i don’t know is not a good idea to start, but oh well…
Great posts…can you please share your sewing machine model number and brand? My mitsubishiLs2-2210 ,foot wont or i cant seam to lift it enough to get 1/4″ car seat cover, to start sewing..any ideas? Part numbers? That would help. Would greatly be apreciated…Gracias..J.c.
You’ve been more helpful that all of web sites put together Been fighting with faux lambs wool forever-now I have the answer!! Thank you so much–Oklahoma