Working with fur is fun - and a challenge. The more deluxe fur you have,
the nicer your finished product will be. Deluxe furs are nice because they
are thick, with a high per-square-inch "hair" count. That very quality
means there are some added steps necessary in the construction process.
These ideas should help you as you work with the fur.
- If you are working with fake fur, you can pin your pattern pieces directly
to the knit backing. If you are re-using a real fur garment to make your
new creation, you will want to use a flexible fabric glue to afix muslin
(or an old sheet) directly to the back of the fur. This will reinforce any
weak spots in the leather, and stabilize the many tiny seams that make up
the fur piece.
- Once you have pinned the pattern to the back of your fur (or
drawn the pattern pieces on the muslin backing of the genuine fur) use
small trim scissors with 2" -3" blades when you cut your pieces out. Be
very careful to cut only the knit backing (or the leather of the genuine
fur)! You do not want to cut the fur itself!
- Because the fur is so thick, sewing through all the bulk of the fur fibers
can be difficult. Construction will be easier - and the finished product
nicer - if you take the time to trim the fur from the seam allowances.
This will give you bare knit (or leather) inside the seam. Of course, you
don't want to trim beyond the seam allowance, or there will be a bare spot
along the seam on the finished side of your new creation. Trimming like
this also prevents a "valley" of shorter fur from running down each seam.
The fur of the joined pieces will blend better, and your project will be
that much nicer.
- As you pin the fake fur pieces along the seams to be sewn, be very careful
to brush the fur away from the seam line (at right angles to the seam
line. A clean old toothbrush is a useful tool for this step.). This helps
keep the fur from becoming caught in the seams. Real fur doesn't pin well
at all, and the silkiness of the genuine fur makes it an extra challenge
to sew. Try using bobby pins to hold pieces together, being very careful
about the direction of the fur (right angles from the seam line!) and
removing the bobby pins just before they get to the pressure foot.
- After sewing the seams, examine the inside of the seams. You will probably
have a little bit of fur from the seam allowance caught in the seam; this
will make a "valley" of shorter fur on the right side along the seam,
although not as much as if you hadn't trimmed the seam allowances. Use a
seam picker tool to pull any of these fur fibers to the wrong side of the
sewing, the inside of the seam, where they won't be seen.
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