How to Use Crepe Paper for Sewing

Use start out sewing by learning a little about the machine, a little about thread, and a little about simple patterns. That gets you going, but if you plan to become really good at sewing, youll need to learn a lot of different things. Youll learn about setting and adjusting tension, setting the machine to do things like zigzag stitching, and even how to install elastic. Those kinds of things can be taught by someone who already knows, but over time, youll discover sewing tricks on your own, too. As problems or issues arise youll have to come up with solutions in order to finish the sewing project.

Even someone who is no expert at sewing knows that some fabrics are easier to sew than others. Cloth thats not too heavy, not too thin, and not stretchy, can be sewn without difficulty. But material which is wispy, really thick or loosely textured can be problematic. The good news is that you dont have to figure out how to fix those problems on your own. You have help! As you sew, the needle goes into a hole in the metal plate that covers the bobbin, and when sewing certain fabrics, the cloth can get pushed or pulled into that hole as well. Thats not a good thing. You have to stop what youre doing, probably take the needle out, then work on getting the material out of the hole. You can even end up with a hole in the material. Another problem is that are textured in a certain way can get snagged or caught in the feed dog.

Theres a cheap trick you can use when youre sewing challenging fabrics. Sew with crepe paper! You know, that colorful, crinkled paper that people use for decorating at parties. It works great to help difficult fabrics glide right along and sew up perfectly. Crepe paper is cheap so its ideal for working with tricky fabrics. When youre getting ready to sew, lay the crepe paper on top of the material, and align the edges of it with the edges of the cloth. Sew as you normally would to finish the seam. Afterwards, simply rip off the crepe paper. Okay, maybe "simply" isnt the word. Sometimes, the crepe paper will tear away and leave no traces behind. Other times, youll have to take tweezers and pick out small pieces under some - but usually not all - of the stitches. This usually happens when you sew small stitches close together or when you sew stitching such as zigzag. Still, tweezing is a small price to pay for the excellent sewing you can do when you take advantage of the amazing properties of crepe paper!