Tips for sewing vinyl/faux leather

I am in love with my reverse applique technique (see some patterns here) so I thought to use it for bags too, not only for quilts. It works wonderfully with vinyl/faux leather, as it does not fray.
These are my first tries – more designs are in the works.

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

I copied the design on fusible web and then I fuse it to the back of the faux leather – YES, you can do that!  Just don’t use the highest temperature of your iron and do not press for too long.

The cut out process is so relaxing…

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

Then I fused the cutout faux leather to a layer of quilt weight fabric (I pressed on the the back  of the backing fabric). Then I layered this piece with foam and I quilted it.

Topstitching on faux leather is not that easy – you can’t do it with the regular presser foot! I always use the walking foot with no problem.

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)But this purple faux leather was different! I could not move it under the presser foot…

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

…so I had to use a little trick…

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)Here is the trick: cover the bottom of the presser foot with something that blocks the contact between the metal of the presser foot and vinyl.  I tried first with clear/matte scotch tape; it did not work. Finally, I added two layers of masking/painter’s tape  and I solved the problem!

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)
Sorry for the terrible look of my presser foot (it’s the first time I pay attention to it)! It’s 20 years old!

I also increased the length of the stitching (a lot!!).

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

So much potential for such technique and designs!

Happy sewing!

Edited to add:
This is the knife used for cutting:

Tips for sewing vinyl (faux leather)

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22 Comments

  1. Beautiful job cutting the template design on the faux leather! Was that hard to do? Did you use scissors or what? The end result is fabulous!

  2. Beautiful design with the leather. And thankyou for sharing the masking tape trick. I am sure it will work for other “sticky” fabric too.

  3. Some of us have teflon feet to sew on leather or vinyl, but I thought this was a brilliant way to
    use the foot you have!!!!

  4. Congratulations on another beautiful design. You amaze me with your tenacity – you let nothing stop you from accomplishing what you want to do.

  5. Did you cut out the design on your cutting mat or something else? It looks so precise and beautiful! I would think that solids under the faux leather cut out designs would work best peeking through the faux leather? Thanks for your creativy and willingness to share what worked and what didn’t for you.

  6. I love the work you do. You are an inspiration and it really motivates me to want to push myself to achieve results such as yours. Thank you!

  7. This is a wonderful design technique, beautifully executed. Thanks for sharing your process and tips for success.

  8. Geta, can you post the design out on Design Space as an SVG file so we can try to use our cutting machines?

  9. I have a special non stick pressure foot for sewing these type fabrics. I use it a lot, if you make bags with the clear vinyl it works for that, I’ve made a leather corset for my daughter in law. Also if you are just doing a simple seam, you can put a piece of tear away stabilizer (the kind for doing machine embroidery) on top of the fabric, when the stitching is done, the tear away is easy to remove. You could also use tissue paper, the kind you use for gift bags.

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