Jersey fabrics are probably the most sewn, but also the most cursed. Especially with thin, elastic material, the machine tends to eat the fabric, seams don’t hold and if things go bad, the stitches are unthread. Anyone who has ever started with these fabrics will have had their own personal experience. Here are some of the useful tips for sewing with jersey fabric.

2. Jersey fabrics are probably the most
sewn, but also the most cursed.
Especially with thin, elastic material,
the machine tends to eat the fabric,
seams don’t hold and if things go bad,
the stitches are unthread. Anyone
who has ever started with these
fabrics will have had their own
personal experience. Here are some of
the useful tips for sewing with jersey
fabric.

3.  Every sewing project starts with choosing the right material. It’s no different with
jersey fabrics. There are now numerous different jerseys made from many
different yarns in every well-stocked fabric shop. In this article, we took a closer
look at them and wrote down what you can do best with them. Basically, you
should look at the fabric and its properties beforehand and consider whether it fits
your project. So, you won’t experience any surprises such as too much body
emphasis in the wrong place or an unattractive fall.

4.  Basically, it pays off to wash fabrics before sewing so that you don’t end up with a
garment that no longer fits through shrinking. This is especially true for jerseys.
Make sure to follow the washing instructions. A professional tip is to fold the
fabric once before washing and then sew the edges all around with a zigzag stitch
or the overlock. This will prevent the fabric from warping during washing. Then
you can just cut the seam and still have enough material left.

5.  Nobody likes to be
rushed, especially not
an elastic jersey fabric!
If you’ve spread out
your fabric before
cutting, just give it 15
minutes to contract. In
this way, you make
sure that you will get
your pattern pieces in
the right size later.

6.  The curling of the edges,
especially with thin single
jerseys, is the most feared
property of these fabrics.
First, it must be said that
this also has an advantage:
often the edges of the fabric
do not have to be cleaned at
all, as they only roll up and
do not fray. But if you want
to counteract the curling,
then you can iron on a
molding tape or a light, bi-
elastic interfacing on the
edge.

7.  Jerseys are knitted fabrics. It is therefore particularly important that you lay out
the pattern pieces according to the grain of the thread. The direction is usually
drawn on the pattern pieces. In the knitted jersey fabrics, it runs parallel to the
selvages, i.e. the long edges. Especially with thin fabrics, it is better to weigh down
the parts with sewing weights instead of pinning them.

8.  If you have followed tips 3-5, cutting should not be a problem. You can get the best
results with a winder, but you shouldn’t have any problems with scissors either.
An important rule is, the thinner the jersey, the more seam allowance you should
give. We’ll go into this in more detail in Tip 9, but you shouldn’t sew too close to
the edge.

9.  For an elastic fabric, you need elastic seams. A straight stitch won’t last. A narrow
zigzag stitch works well here. You leave the stitch length set normally but reduce
the stitch width to 0.5 to 1.5. Some machines also offer an elastic stitch or a three-
part zigzag stick. To find out the best one for you, it is always advisable to do trial
sewing. If your machine can do overlock stitches, these are also an interesting
choice and with a special overlock machine sewing and overcasting jerseys at the
same time becomes child’s play.

10.  Since knitted fabrics can quickly get holes if needles that are too sharp damage
the material, it is advisable to work with a jersey needle. The tip is rounded and
thus protects the delicate mesh. So-called “stretch” needles for elastic fabrics are
also suitable.

11.  To prevent your fabric from being eaten directly by the needle plate, you should
start sewing as far from the edge as possible. If you then sew a few stitches
forwards and then backward, you will prevent the fabric from being pulled into
the needle plate.

12.  To get a nice, stretchy hem, it is advisable to use a twin needle. This way, the hem
is beautiful and stays in shape. A twin needle creates two parallel seams with two
upper threads and one lower thread.

13.  Unless otherwise stated in the sewing instructions of your choice, you should
always overcast the seams of jersey fabrics after they have been sewn together.
Otherwise, the edges can stretch and curl. Then afterward your cut parts will no
longer fit together.

14.  If your fabric ripples when you sew, it is usually because the presser foot is
pushing the material together. There are two ways to prevent this from happening
here. You can cut off a strip of parchment paper and place it under the left half of
your presser foot just next to the seam. This will help the presser foot slide better
and prevent the fabric from shifting. Under no circumstances sew the baking
paper along with it! The second option is to make changes to the settings of your
sewing machine. First, try to decrease the presser foot pressure. An additional top
conveyor can also be helpful. Otherwise, you can still experiment with the thread
tension.

15.  If you need buttonholes or want to drive in eyelets, for example, you must
reinforce the areas. There are many ways to do this. You can work with an ironing
pad or with a piece of sturdier fabric. Depending on the desired look, even great
variants can be created.

16.  One of our favorite sewing fairies has a very special tip in store for stabilizing
particularly unruly edges: temporary adhesive spray. This is a water-soluble adhesive
that you can easily spray on (far away from the machine, otherwise you will be messed
up). In this way, especially a thin fabric with a tendency to roll up is stabilized and if
you wash the garment after sewing, the glue dissolves without residue.
 We hope that there was something among the many tips that will make your next
sewing project easier for you. Do you have any further tips yourself that we haven’t
listed here yet? Then write to us, we would be happy. Have fun sewing!
 If you’ve got the desire to work with jersey fabrics, be sure to check out our lovingly
compiled assortment of cotton jersey , Viscose jerseys, or jacquards.
 Also, if you would like to find out more about jersey, then in this article we explain the
differences between the individual types of jersey. This includes a little bit of history, a
little bit about manufacturing processes and a lot about different materials.