How to Sew on Spandex

Spandex is a very tricky material, and that is because it is stretchy, thus making it difficult to sew. If you have a basic sewing machine, you can prepare your spandex and adjust your machine’s setting to make it easier to sew spandex.

You need to pre-wash your spandex, cut it according to specifications, and pin it with ballpoint pins to sew it properly. You can turn spandex into beautiful materials with the proper preparation and settings. Check the Craft Selection website to discover the ideal sewing machine for beginners to sew spandex.

Prepare Your Spandex for Sewing

Pre-wash your spandex, which may depend on the other material the spandex is mixed with. Wash it lightly to prevent the spandex from shrinking the first time you sew it. Use warm water to wash a knit-spandex and dry it quickly. For the silk-spandex mix, wash with cool water and hang to dry. The wool-spandex mix must be taken to the dry cleaner to wash.

Once the spandex is dry, cut with a rotary cutter or a pair of scissors before you prepare your beginner sewing machine to sew the material. Make sure you get straight edges because spandex can be challenging to cut. Place spandex on a cutting mat if you will use a rotary cutter. Pin it with ballpoint pins while maintaining proper seam allowance to avoid damaging the fabric.

You must allow the most stretched part of the spandex to be wrapped around the body. Use a four-way positioning to ensure the spandex can stretch vertically or horizontally around the body. You may want to find the best sewing machine for beginners online before you proceed from here.

Sew the Spandex Fabric

The first step is to install a ballpoint needle inside your sewing machine. Regular needles may cut through and damage the spandex whereas the ballpoint needles come with rounded tips that pass through the fiber when sewing.

Adjust the machine’s presser foot and set the pressure at 1. Higher pressure may pull the spandex fabric as you sew. You can check the machine’s manual for this. The next step is to thread your small sewing machine with an all-purpose polyester thread. You can choose a thread with a color that matches your spandex fabric.

Set the machine to the narrow zigzag stitch setting because this setting works best for spandex material. This setting will provide the slack that will accommodate the stretch. Also, you must adjust the stitch length to 0.5mm. You can check your machine’s manual and see how to change the switch setting.

Do not pull your spandex as you sew it. Though you can pull the fabric taut of some fabrics, you can do the same with spandex. Pulling spandex as you sew can lead to issues like puckering. You must also prevent the fabric from hanging over the edge of your work surface because it can lead to the pulling of the fabric. It is possible to find a beginner sewing machine specifically designed for more rigid fabrics like spandex online. Check the Crafts Selection website for more details.