Reply To: how to sew with crinkled taffeta??

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Beautiful! I haven’t sewn with crinkled taffeta before but I can imagine it would be intimidating at first. I did make something with a pre-pleated fabric and it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. If I were you, I would check back at the fabric store and, hopefully, they still have the fabric. On the end of the bolt, there should be an information tag and it’ll tell you how to care for the fabric like if it’s dry clean only or if you can even iron it. I usually take a pic with my phone so I have the info and don’t have to remember it. As far as sewing it, I think the trick is not to stretch it while cutting or sewing. I think a good way to prevent this is by basting the seamlines and hemlines on the individual fabric pieces before sewing any seams. If you’re able to adjust the foot tension (not thread tension) you might want to want to do a lower foot tension while doing the basting. The basting stitch will keep all the crinkles or pleats in place when you do a sew a seam and then after the seam is created, you can just remove the basting stitch. If you’re worried about stretching the fabric while cutting, you might want to use a rotary cutter and mat. A smaller blade on the cutter is ideal for curvier areas on the pattern. Definitely practice on scraps beforehand so you can get comfortable sewing it. good luck and you can do it! 😀