Hi! I’m Krista, owner of MaeFlowers & JuneBugs, a small girls boutique here
on the web. For those who don’t know who I am, you can find my Facebook page at
A few months ago, I was one of the testers on the awesome Willow Wrap
Jacket from Create Kids Couture. Instead of being like everyone else, I
decided I would do something a little different and I made my jacket out of
laminated cotton, making it into a raincoat for my daughter.
Unfortunately, we live in Texas and she was only able to wear it for the
photo shoot. She grew into a larger size before she was able to wear it,
so I’m left with the task of making a new one. As I do that, I’m going to
walk through some tips to help you with any laminate sewing!
One of the biggest frustrations when working with laminated cotton is that
it tends to stick when you’re trying to sew it! I started out using my
regular foot on my machine. You know, the one that you hardly ever take
off your machine because it works for just about EVERYTHING? Yeah, it
doesn’t work for this. I learned that quickly. There are a few ways
around this. Since I’m planning on working with more laminated cotton in
the future, I went and bought a Teflon foot for my machine. Prices can
range on these, mine was around $40, but I’ve seen them anywhere from
$15-70. It depends on which style machine you have. I have a Bernina. If
you’re not wanting to take the leap and buy a new foot for your machine,
you can use the tissue paper method. Take tissue wrapping paper (the kind you put in gift bags) and place it on top of the laminated cotton. You
really only need to do this when topstitching. Anytime the laminated
cotton is facing you (and the presser foot). That will help it glide
smoothly under your machine. Another method I’ve heard of is to put
masking tape on the bottom of your presser foot, but I’ve never tried this
one.
Willow’s Wrap Jacket has the cutest ruffle around the neckline! I love how
it looks, don’t you? So cute! Ruffling the laminated cotton isn’t so
cute. Since it’s a bit thicker than most cottons, you have to take an
extra step, but its worth it! CKC always says when ruffling things that
they only use one row of basting to gather their ruffles. When I was
learning to sew (in the land of many many years ago), my mother taught me that you will always get the best ruffles if you use two rows of stitching,
one 1/8” to the left of where your seam will be and one 1/8” to the right
of where your seam will be. Then after pinning, you just sew in between
your basting stitches. I’ve always used this method on any ruffles and,
trust me, you WANT to use this method on the laminated cotton. Because of how thick it is, the two rows will give you more control over the ruffle
and the fabric. Take your time with it. Use the same method on the skirt
of the jacket too. You will have nice, even, pretty ruffles!
This is what it will look like when done with the basting, before you start
gathering.
Other than that, it's pretty easy to sew with laminates. Hope this helps!
