Decor fabrics are naturally heavier than dress fabrics. When you're in the process of sewing decor fabric pattern pieces together, they tend to shift out of place.
Unfortunately, the hand-stitching method cannot compensate for the added weight of a sewing machine presser foot. This extra pressure helps to keep fabric layers firmly clamped together whilst being machine-sewn.
Upholstery Pins and Skewers
Depending on the weight of the fabric,you could use upholstery pins and or skewers to hold pattern pieces securely in place while hand-stitching,
To be fair, it can take a lot of practice to keep the pins or skewers where you placed them.
For 'on the go' work, where you'll be away from your dedicated craft space, upholstery pins and skewers are not a safe or efficient option.
Craft Clips
Craft clips are usually made of plastic although you can find metal ones too. They are a safer way to hold fabric pattern pieces while you're sewing.
Unfortunately, craft clips just aren't reliable enough to clamp heavy decor fabric, especially not if you are determined to achieve a professional finish.
The plastic teeth of craft clips don't have a powerful enough grip and may slip and slide when holding together thicker or layered materials. This will make your stitches veer off-course and potentially produce very uneven seams.
So What Can We Do About It?
There are a two main rules that I like to follow when I'm designing and creating my home decor .
Firstly, I always treat high-end decor fabric with some degree of respect. I take steps to ensure that the fabric I use will look and feel 'new-ish' for as long as possible.
Secondly, have you ever had to reupholster a stinky, weevil-infested old sofa, that's had its layers stapled together (read 'hasn't had a thorough clean since it was first purchased')? If not, FYI it's gross. If you've had the experience, then you'll understand why it is best to install closures on all of your furniture covers, for easy cleaning and general maintenance.
While I would never use a staple gun to permanently attach decor fabric to a furniture base, a well-designed heavy duty stapler, has the capacity to (temporarily) join several different materials together.
Some of the most failsafe methods are discovered by accident. I caught on to this technique one day when I literally had run out of options.
Once upon a time, I used to develop business plans. I'd use my heavy-duty stapler to bind 40-page drafts with a plastic film front and a cardboard back. I had never used the stapler for anything else and I didn't want to chuck it. Instead, I relocated it to my craft space.
Early one morning, I'd been in creating nook seating (seat cushion and scatter cushions) using thick vinyl decor fabric. I'd already cut and shaped the fabric pieces and I'd planned to sew them together that evening while waiting for my husband.
The plastic clips I tried to use caused too many issues. At first, the clips stayed in place and even looked nice all lined up along the fabric edge. I was able to draw a lovely stitch guideline.
However, when the unit of fabric was moved, a number of the clips shifted out of place. The rest of them pinged right off. I was undeterred. I tried my sturdy little metal clips. These would have worked but I didn't have enough to complete the job. I hadn't realised that I'd need at least 45 of them.
Secondly, the weight of the ones I had attached, proved to be way heavier than I was willing to carry around with me - it made the unit very cumbersome.
I noticed the stapler just sitting there doing nothing, and that's when I had my Eureka moment - I stapled all the edges of the box seat unit and the scatter cushions in minutes - hassle-free.
The units were rolled up and slipped effortlessly into my Go Bag.
The hand-stitching session was easy and fast, mainly because I didn't need to remeasure, realign, or re-pin the fabric nor check if my stitches had veered off course.
Back at my craft space, I snipped off the entire row of staples from the unit and chucked them.
I was very pleased with the beautifully smooth seams. The fabric hadn't puckered and my stitches weren't wonky. I'd been able to create a very high-end finish to my seating project.
So there you have it, using staples to temporarily hold fabric edges together, is a neat technique that allows you to sew with ease and with greater accuracy. You'll feel and create like a professional who knows exactly what they're doing.
A heavy-duty stapler will penetrate all of the layers of fabric and firmly clench them together.
It won't matter if you're hand-stitching in your crafts space, a friend's house, laying in bed, or sitting in the train. No matter how much movement your project is subjected to while sewing, your finished seams will be aligned and smooth.
My heavy-duty stapler was up for the job for a period of time, up until it dropped (by itself) on the hard floor in my craft space. That was the end of my trusty Mr. Stapler.
You know when you've found a surefire way of doing something, it quickly becomes the 'normal way' of doing that thing. Having to go back to the old, less efficient way, feels awkward. I needed to get a new stapler fast and was determined to find the best one for my rather unusual purpose.
My main concern while shopping around for a new heavy-duty stapler was how well it would clamp together different types, thicknesses, and layers of material, like:
1 inch Bonded Polyester Dacron
Thick decor fabric
High-density polyurethane foam
100% Cotton Wadding
Medium Density Memory Foam
Felt or Vinyl
An important point to consider was the warranty of the stapler. I understood from the start that the tasks I wanted to perform would not come under the terms and conditions of the manufacturer's warranty.
All staplers are made to join paper of different thicknesses together.
As I wanted to join thick textiles together, using the stapler in this way would void any legal right that I had to a replacement, in the event that it broke/malfunctioned.
I invested in a heavy-duty stapler that failed. Then I purchased a different one which I finally settled with. My stapler works in precisely the way I had hoped. It is powerful enough to staple through several different materials, without getting jammed, and It has an arm that is sufficiently long enough to reach centre seams.
A Quick Word on Heavy Duty Stapler Use
Always use the correct staples for your stapler. Although it sounds obvious, it's tempting to try and use whatever staples you have on hand.
Thin staples meant for a standard desk stapler will jam in a heavy-duty stapler. The staple selector that plunges each staple into the material, may try to shove two staples in at a time.
The wrong sized staples will crumple in the middle, and the stapler will feel difficult to push down.
It's also very likely that the manufacturer's warranty is only valid if you've used the correct staples. Some stapler manufacturers expect you to stick to using their brand of staples only.
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