Christine posted a gorgeous fleece wreath project earlier today, using a polyester fleece fabric, accented with paper flowers.
Fleece is such a popular fabric at this time of year – it’s warm, cozy and light to wear. I do get quite a few questions on how to handle it though. It dulls scissors and needles like crazy, and is even prone to breaking thread if it’s not handled quite right.
In Christine’s post, a pinking rotary cutter or scissors were used to make a decorate edge on the fleece. I personally recommend never using your “good” fabric shears on fleece – it dulls those edges almost as quickly as paper does!
If you’re having problems with thread breaking or skipping stitches as you’re sewing, check a few things. First of all, are you using a good quality polyester thread? Fleece will shred cheap thread – it’s not worth the hassle. Are you using a stretch stitch? You can even try loosening the tension a little too. Make sure to use a new needle and that it’s large enough. Fleece is a pretty bulky fabric and can require a surprisingly large needle to sew.
So don’t be intimidated – try out this great non-raveling fabric and have fun :-)
image: Stock.xchg