How to Sew Chiffon Without Puckering (11 Sewing Chiffon Tips)
There are so many things that can go wrong when working with different fabrics. When you concentrate on one problem another will pop up just to annoy you. There are steps you can take to solve many sewing issues including avoiding puckering.
How to sew chiffon without puckering: The way to avoid puckering with chiffon is to use a straight stitch needle plate with a straight stitch presser foot. Then you want to use a thin thread and a short stitch length to help keep puckering to a minimum. Using the right interfacing will help as well.
To learn more about how to sew chiffon and get some helpful tips, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want so you can do a great job when you have a sewing project that requires chiffon material.
Tip #1: Snip a piece of the fabric in an out of the way spot and expose the warp and weft thread. Pull a couple of each thread so you can spot the grain.
Tip #2: When removing the warp thread, make sure you are close to the selvage. This hides the vacant spot once occupied by the warp thread.
Sewing Chiffon 101
Can You Sew Chiffon?
Yes, you can but you should check to see if your patience levels are at their top levels. Chiffon is a slippery fabric that can make using the material a test of how much patience you really have.
Just keep in mind that chiffon is a lightweight fabric and needs special handling when you are sewing with it. Double-check your needle to make sure it is very sharp and will not damage the fabric when you begin sewing.
One way to handle fabric so it doesn’t try your patience is to use pattern weights. This holds the fabric still without putting holes in it like pins will. Hopefully, you have a large enough sewing table to handle what chiffon requires.
Tip #3: When you remove the weft thread, make sure you know how the pattern of the material will lie. That way you can cover the vacant spot and hide the fact you took out the weft thread.
Is Chiffon Difficult to Sew Or Alter?
Is water wet? That question may be the understatement of the year as everyone knows that chiffon is one of the most difficult fabrics to work with. It is like a director trying to work with a starlet whose fame has gone to her head. Chiffon is a star and the fabric knows it.
It doesn’t matter if the fabric is made from silk, polyester, rayon, nylon, or cotton. All chiffon materials are hard to work with and discourages new sewers from working with the material.
Because the material is slippery you will have trouble holding the fabric in place as you work on it. This holds true for when you hem the material.
Tip #4: Use pattern weights instead of pins when needing to hold the fabric still. The weight will prevent any shifting after you got the material in the right spot.
Can a Chiffon Dress be Shortened?
Yes, it can and the method you use will depend on if there are pleats to the dress or not. If there are pleats, you need to start at the top of the dress so you do not ruin that attractive accessory.
Leave the hem in place and work from the top to make sure the dress remains wearable. If the dress does not have pleats, then start at the bottom and remove the current hem. Redraw your hemline higher up giving yourself an allowance to work with.
Once you have the stitch line cut the excess away and fold up the hem to the new line and sew.
Tip #5: Cut one layer at a time. The folds may shift on you as you cut and this will spare you any accidents as you work.
How to Cut Chiffon
The best way to cut chiffon fabric is to use a padded cutting table and lay the material out flat. Then take a rotary cutter to do the cutting. This will help cut down or eliminate any shifting that normally takes place when you make your cuts.
Or if you do not have a rotary cutter, then use tissue paper. Place that paper down first, then your fabric, and finally your pattern pieces. Cut through all the layers at the same time as the tissue paper will stop the material from slipping mid-cut.
Then as our tip mentioned, cut one layer of fabric at a time. This will also help minimize slippage and mistakes.
Tip #6: When using your sewing machine, replace your old needle with a new sharp one. Then replace that needle the first time it pulls the fabric.
How to Sew Chiffon On a Machine
You may want to use fabric weights when you sew chiffon. That will keep the fabric from changing positions as you work. Then make sure your needle is nice and sharp. The dull needle will damage the fabric as chiffon is very delicate, probably more delicate than the Princess in the Princess and the Pea story.
Then check your presser plate. Change it out for the special hems you are sewing. You can use a rolled hem presser foot for a rolled or narrow hem hemline. Or you can use a straight stitch needle plate and presser foot when needing to do a straight stitch.
Using the right tools will make working with chiffon a lot simpler and easier on your nerves.
Tip #7: When working with chiffon, install the smallest throat plate you can put on your sewing machine. This will keep the fabric from getting taken down the needle hole as you sew.
What Size Needle to Sew Chiffon
You can use two needles to sew chiffon. The 65/9 or the 70/10 are the ones recommended for that fabric. Make sure those needles are new, and we mean brand new, and insert them correctly.
You do not want to use a dull needle so double check to make sure those new needles are nice and sharp. Even if you are only sewing chiffon that day, the needle should be replaced the moment you feel a pull on the fabric.
Once the needle goes dull it is not a good sewing tool to work with when it comes to sewing chiffon. Extra sharp is better than just sharp when working with this fabric.
Tip #8: A French seam or a 4 thread overedge stitch from a serger sewing machine are the recommended seam styles for chiffon. They may be more work but they look great.
Sewing Chiffon Tension
Some of the recommended tensions have a little leeway to them. There is not normally a specific one type of tension only when sewing with chiffon fabrics. For needle tension the dial should be set between 0 and 2; for the upper tension setting, you are looking at somewhere between 5 to 7.
Then for the lower tension option, you need to set the dial at around 2 to 4. Those settings are for your serger sewing machine. For regular sewing machines, the recommendation is light tension accompanied by a stitch length of 2 to 2 1/2 mm.
Play it by ear and see which level works best for you.
Tip #9: For stitching success, shorten the length up when you are working on chiffon. Between 12 and 20 stitches per inch should give you the result you are looking for. Make sure to do a test on a scrap piece of fabric to make sure you have the right stitch length.
Sewing Chiffon With a Serger
This may be the best sewing machine to use when working on chiffon fabric. It saves you a lot of work and since you know the tension settings, all you need to do is adjust the thread so you do not use all of them at the same time.
For hemming, you should use 3 threads and for some seams, you should use 4 threads. Start off with the recommended settings and try a scrap piece of fabric and see if those settings produce the results you want.
If not you can try re-threading different colors on the machine to see which one is making the errors. Once you spot that your correction work is a little easier to take care of.
Tip #10: To have your sewing project looking its best, avoid doing any back and forth sewing when you come to the end of your seams or hems. Just leave enough thread at the end so you can hand tie knots into place. The back sewing will show through your garment and ruin its look.
How to Sew Chiffon Without Puckering
This will take a little work on your part as the sewing machine is not equipped to do everything for you. The first way to avoid puckering as you sew is to place pins in the material about 1 inch apart.
When you do that, make sure the fabric is even. Next, you should not push, pull, or tug on the fabric when you sew. Let the machine do the work as you guide the material evenly through the needle.
Another trick you can do is to shorten your stitch length. Make it the right length that goes with the fabric you are sewing. Finally, use the right needle for the fabric, a 60/8 is another needle you can use.
Tip #11: if the chiffon you are using is washable and you are at the neck and arm openings, you can give the outfit a bias strip binding by using spray starch and your iron. The spray starch makes chiffon easier to work with.
How to Sew Chiffon by Hand
Hopefully, your patience levels are high when you attempt this feat. Try to secure the chiffon in the best way possible so that the security measures are not in your way and still keeps the fabric still.
If you are doing a hem by hand, make sure you sew a stitch line across the hem before moving on to the next step. Then once that is finished, fold the raw edge towards the wrong side and pick up your needle again.
Start by picking up a fiber or two of the fabric, then one of the stitches, and make your next stitch. Do this the length of the hem and your chiffon outfit will be ready.
What to Sew With Chiffon Material
The answer to this question will depend if you mean what other fabrics can you use with chiffon or what objects you can make out of the fabric. The former option is that you can probably use just about any other fabric and match it up with chiffon.
The sheer look balances other fabrics look and provides a touch of elegance to your sewing project. But if you are talking about sewing projects then you can do a chiffon flower brooch or chiffon and black lace blouse.
The projects you can do with chiffon seem to be unlimited.
Sewing Chiffon Curtains
The three biggest things you can do when attempting to create chiffon curtains is, to use finer thread, a smaller needle, and smaller stitches. That is what you need to focus on as chiffon curtains do not require a lot of complicated cutting or using difficult pattern pieces.
If you pin, use fine silk pins and keep them closer together than you normally would with other fabrics. Also, you should use a rip or wash stabilizer while you are sewing. Make sure to hold the fabric taut as it goes through the needle. This will help avoid puckering.
How to Sew a Chiffon Dress With Lining
The first step is to align the sleeve hems before you do anything else. Make sure the right sides are together. Then check to see if your lining is at the appropriate length about 2 inches shorter than the dress.
Next, turn the dress right side out and match up the armpit and side seams. Sew the two together starting at the place where the lining joins the dress. Keep the notches aligned so that there are no problems to deal with later.
Finally, finish sewing the dress by sewing the lining to the dress fabric. That is all there is to it.
Sewing Chiffon Neckline
When you get to the neckline or opening, you want to use a bias strip binding. The quickest way to do this is to use s[pray starch if the chiffon is washable. After spraying the neckline use your iron to set the bias strip binding.
Once set, your chiffon should act more like organdy fabric making it easier to work with. You can do the same around the raw edges if you like,. keeping your sewing easier to do is one way to enjoy the hobby.
Sewing Chiffon Overlay
The key to this option is to choose your colors, designs, and patterns wisely. The right combination will highlight the designs or deepen the colors you want on your dress or gown.
Since the sheer fabric is very hard to work with, make sure you sew slowly and carefully. Spray some stabilizer on the sheer fabric if it can be washed. This will help keep the fabric still as you work and it will wash out when you are done.
Next use one of the needles mentioned above and a thin lightweight silk thread or an all-purpose poly thread. Keep the seams narrow as you do not want them seen and use a rolled hem.
Finally, decide if you want a floating overlay or a fitted one and sew according to the design you want.
Sewing Chiffon With Tissue Paper
This is one of the tips you can use when working with chiffon. The purpose of the presence of the tissue paper is to keep the chiffon material from shifting as you cut. Cutting is one of the more important areas of your sewing project and mistakes here can really cause you to pull your hair out.
Finding Chiffon Sewing Patterns
This is really not that hard to find. There are a lot of good sewing patterns on the internet you can get for either free or a small fee. One of the locations is found at this link.
There are about 15 good patterns and projects on its web pages and should get you started. Or you can check eBay or Amazon to see what patterns they have available. Then your chain sewing stores like Hobby Lobby are a good bet.
You should not run out of places that have patterns for chiffon sewing projects.
Some Final Words
While working with chiffon is difficult, the results can be spectacular. Just follow the tips and use the right equipment and your work should bring praise from family and friends.
