9 Tips for Sewing with Faux Leather

Have you sewn with faux leather before?

If you have, than you know how sensitive this fabric can be. If you haven’t then stay tuned because I’ll be passing on the 10 things I learned while working with faux leather.

Over the last couple months, I’ve been working on a self designed, self drafted, me made black detachable faux leather jacket. Originally inspired by the black panthers and Beyoncé’s Ivy Park break away jackets, I knew when I started I was biting off a lot but I wasn’t quite sure just how much.

By the time this post comes out, I think I’ll be through the brunt of it all and while I’m glad it’s coming to an end, that doesn’t mean I’m any less grateful for the lessons I’ve learned while completing this intermediate sewing project. Here’s what I learned:

9 Tips for Sewing with Faux Leather

1. Use a cutting mat and rotary wheel.

When cutting, use a rotary blade to get the job done. This will make sure that your edges stay nice and smooth and consistent. Using scissors can cause choppy lines as you open and close them.

And because we’re using a rotary blade, having a cutting mat just makes sense to have in place underneath. It will keep your surface area from getting damaged, as well as protect your blade. I opted for a self healing mat because I don’t like cuts, grooves and indents forming on the mats with continued use.

If possible, cut yardage in half to cut two at a time to save time instead of one piece at a time.

2. Hold pieces together with clips, not stick pins.

The surface of the fabric can easily be damaged and scarred for life. Once you poke a whole in it, the whole will remain, so when you stick a sewing needle or stick pin into the fabric, that hole will remain. This is we don’t want to use stick pins.

Instead, use clips to hold the cut out pieces together. The clips will keep pieces from shifting and moving like a pin, but it won’t leave any wholes in your fabric. Unfortunately, clips still leave marks - at least mine still left some indentations from gripping the fabric - so it’s best to make sure that the clip is placed in the seam allowance.

3. Use a stick pin, only when absolutely necessary.

Contradiction, I know. Let me explain.

No, you don’t want to use stick pins while sewing faux leather, but sometimes pins just make things easier. For example, when I was placing the pocket flaps onto my leather jacket. Laying the flap on the jacket without any stabilization made it so easy for the flap to move out of place. With the stick pins holding it in place, the flap couldn’t shift.

So if you have to use a stick pin, make sure the pins are only in the seam allowance and poke through areas that won’t be visible when your project is complete.

4. Use a pressing cloth

If an iron touches the surface a faux leather or vinyl material, it can melt. This will leave unremovable marks on the surface of the fabric and damage your iron. To work around this, use a small piece of cotton fabric and place it over your seams and such as you press. The pressing cloth is a barrier between the fabric surface and your iron.

Make sure your pressing cloth has a smooth surface because if your iron is hot enough, the texture of the pressing cloth can be imprinted into the surface of the fabric.

5. Sew with a Teflon foot

A teflon foot a plastic presser foot. When faux leather or vinyl are used with general metal presser foot, it can get stuck and it’s hard to pass the fabric through, causing a clog and tangled threads. To avoid this, switch the presser foot out with a plastic teflon, making it easier to push the fabric through the machine.

6. Use interfacing to stabilize lighter weight faux leather.

A lot of the unsightly areas on my jacket are because my fabric warped and skewed as I was stitching and pleats were caught under the needle. Unfortunate - very unfortunate - but it happens.

While sewing, I realized the pieces with interfacing pressed on the back were more stable and didn’t give me this issue.

7. Do NOT fold the fabric at all.

Point, blank period. Folding the fabric will damage the yardage altogether and leave permanent crease marks.

I had my faux leather fabric for years and because of limited space, I folded the yardage and put it in a bin with the rest of my stash. I knew better but I had no where else to put it if I was going to keep it. Pulling it out for this detachable faux leather jacket, there were creases throughout that I couldn’t do anything about. Luckily for me, I was able to use much of the creased areas for the inside of the jacket and smaller pieces, so the creases aren’t that much of an eyesore.

8. Think twice - or thrice - before taking any action

I think you understand by now how delicate this fabric is and that what’s done cannot be undone. When you’re about to pin or sew a few pieces together, take a few extra seconds to make sure that you’re taking the correct action.

My jacket has snaps placed at the armhole and caps of of the sleeves. While cutting and marking, I used my awl to punch holes on the front and back jacket armholes, not paying close attention. While I’m in the middle of sewing, I realize those locations weren’t supposed to marked so the snaps would be going on the inside of the jacket on the facing pieces. Luckily the awe didn’t make large enough holes to do much but if you look close enough, those holes still remain.

9. Be patient and forgiving with yourself.

Especially if it’s your first time working with this fabric. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to leather materials and faux leather is no different.

As you sew, don’t be too hard on yourself if things aren’t coming out as you had hoped or find yourself making too many mistakes for your liking. remember, there are no failures, only lessons and I can confidently say, I learned a lot making this oversized. break away faux leather jacket.

Did you find these tips helpful? Let me know in the comments.

If you have any questions about using faux leather fabric, feel free to ask.