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Sewing with Faux Fur
I'm making pattern D minus the collar from this McCall's pattern in a short silky faux fur. I've worked with faux fur before on other projects, but not this type. The fur is less than a quarter of an inch high and is a silky type of poodle fur. I got it at Joann's and this has to be their rudest store in the chain. The woman who cut it for me said I needed to "bond the fabric" by folding it over and sewing a seam into it before I make the jacket and add extra seam allowance, but didn't elaborate. I've never worked with fur and haven't known it to the other types of fur to fray. What do you think? Am I missing something? Should I just follow the instructions on the pattern with the modifications?
Every single employee makes it a point not to greet anyone, not make eye contact, and to make the customer feel like an inconvenience. They were well over an hour away from closing and the woman who cut for me made it a point to tell me she was going to have to sweep again because of me. The one who rang me up told me my coupon was no good even though it was good on anything in the store before she even looked at it.
Re: Sewing with Faux Fur
EW your experience sounds awful. That's extremely poor customer service
I don't have any experience sewing with fur though - I wish I could help!
I'm assuming she just chopped right thru the fur? Instead of carefully clipping thru the backing material. That looks like knit webbing? Which means she effectively ruined about an inch of the fur where cut.
If the fur is really really really low pile you can get away with this. Longer the fur more damage done. Faux fur lost to careless cutting at Joanns! No shocker there. I have to teach the cutting people, the right way to do it every time I buy fur.
If its very low pile treat it the same as you would most fabric. Except no ironing allowed !
Thanks! I did lose about 2 inches since she cut it pile up with fur flying everywhere. It does look like knit webbing on the back, which is the only kind I've ever seen. It's a little more than minky and less than their waved fur. It almost looks like poodle fur. I just wanted a cropped faux fur jacket that looked a little retro with long sleeves and the only ones I like in stores were near $100 for a half sleeve. I can do this lined for under $20 and make a matching scarf.
I try to avoid this location, but the nearest one is an hour each way and I was already there with DH. I don't know what their deal is with attitudes, but they seem to like to discourage people. The store in the other direction is a 180 in customer service. They actually give good advice and know how to cut.
This sounds a LOT like the fur that I put into M's Beast Halloween costume (also from JoAnn's):
I would recommend using some sort of stabilizer, because it stretched and twisted all over the place while sewing it. I wasn't trying too too hard, since it was going into a one-time-wear costume, but you can tell that the cuffs on the legs aren't even in the front.
Also, the lady who cut mine was incredibly rude, too! Same biitching about sweeping, and then she told me I shouldn't take the fur out of the bag in my house because it would make a mess. I tried to joke it off about sewing on the lawn, because she was seriously freaking out about the shedding.
Thanks! That's awesome! It looks similar to the fur at the feet, but shorter. I went ahead and ran with it last night. It stretched a little, but not much and the pattern is boxy and drapes. It worked out well in the end. Now I just need a liner fabric and I'll go with something lightweight with less give.