Sewing With Denim

Choosing the Right Fabric

• Use a denim fabric that is appropriate for what you are making. For work clothes, overalls, jeans and outerwear use heavyweight denim (12- to 14-ounce). For pants, skirts or accessories, use a medium-weight denim (10- to 12-ounce). For dresses, blouses and shirts, use lightweight denim (6- to 8-ounce). Wash denim fabric before cutting and sewing it. Serge or zigzag the raw edges of cut pattern pieces before you sew them together. This will reduce the amount of fraying and raveling.

Needles

• Use the right needle in your sewing machine. For best results, use a new needle for each project. Choose a needle specifically manufactured for sewing on denim. These have larger eyes to accomodate decorative topstitching thread and are longer and more pointed than standard sewing machine needles. For heavy denim, use a needle marked 100/16. For medium denim, use a needle marked 80/14. For lightweight denim, use a needle marked 75/11.

Machine Settings

• Set the stitch length on your sewing machine to fit the weight of your fabric. For heavy denim, set it to sew at 10 stitches per inch. For lighter fabrics, set it at 12 stitches per inch.

Finishing

• Finish inside edges so they will not fray. Do this by trimming them with pinking shears, zigzagging or serging them or binding them with bias tape.

Accessories

• Use a walking foot instead of a standard presser foot. A walking foot has feed dogs built into it so the thick fabric moves through the sewing machine more easily. When sewing projects with thick seams, such as jeans, use an accessory called a hump jumper to aid you in stitching over the thickest sections. Some machines have a built-in leveling button, which performs the same function.

Industrial-Strength Machines

• Consider purchasing an industrial or commercial sewing machine if you plan to do a lot of sewing on multiple layers of denim. Because denim is such a thick fabric, many home sewing machines do not enough enough power to sew on it.