Sewing SOS (aka, Auuuuuugh!)

[saxikath]

One of the fabrics I'm using for the Insane Costuming Project turns out to be one my sewing machine Does Not Like At All. (It's definitely the fabric's fault; the machine is sewing other fabrics fine.) It's a metallic fabric, slightly stretchy, and my machine won't sew it smoothly -- the bobbin thread keeps not catching, so there will be some stitches fine and then a big gap, and then it won't catch at all for a couple of inches.

The woman at the craft store told me that a serger is really the best sort of thing to use for this. Does anyone have one they're willing to lend me for a couple of days? This project has to be finished by next weekend, and the metallic part is crucial. It has a number of parts, so hand-sewing would be very time-consuming.

If anyone has one, or advice on what to do, I would really appreciate it. I am frustrated out of my mind right now, and worried about how I'm going to get this finished.

Comments

[faithwallis.livejournal.com]

I know you may know this but...
1. are you using a zig sag or stretch stitch to sew it? this can help if the stretch is the issue.
2. do you have some tissue paper (like you wrap gifts with) or some very light paper around? If you put some on both sides (or just try it against the feed dogs instead of both if you don't have much) and then try sewing, that might help with the slippiness. The beauty is that when you tear away the paper after the seam is sewn, you should get to keep your stretchiness and the "hand" of the fabric.

A serger is not always the answer for such things. If you need more help, you can give me a call tomorrow (I will send you my phone number in e-mail) and we can puzzle it out if you'd like. I have a ton and a half of reference material that might give you seomething.

[saxikath]

My machine is a 50-year-old Singer Featherweight -- beautiful thing, but it doesn't do zigzag. (I might have a zigzag attachment somewhere, I'm not sure.)

Thanks for the advice!