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What is Mesh Fabric?
How Do You Cut Mesh Fabric?
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6. Machine feet – You can also use a walking foot to help guide the mesh through, and use a tear away stabiliser or something like tissue or paper under the seam that can be ripped off afterwards to help guide the mesh over the feed dogs without it becoming trapped. You can also use a wide straight stitch foot or a roller foot (see next tips regarding foot pressure)
7. Sewing Tip – If you can, loosen the presser foot pressure on your machine or overlocker, this will prevent unwanted stretch when sewing. This will also stop the fabrics slipping as much, especially if you are sewing a double layer of mesh.
Seam Finishes
Try to match the thread you use with the fibre that makes up the mesh. For The best way to finish seams on mesh, is with a standard overlocking stitch. Treat mesh like you would a very delicate or lightweight fabric when finishing, due to the holes.
If you don’t have an overlocker, using a double line of short straight stitch or narrow ziz-zag stitch along the seam also provides a strong finish, and can be done with a twin needle, or two rows with a single needle. Seams may also be enclosed with bias binding or using a french seam, but these may be a little bulky depending on the mesh you are using.
Edge Finishes
As with seams, any edges may be finished with bias binding, to create a neat, fully enclosed edge. You could also use ribbon or any trim, and bias binding comes in infinite prints and colours. You can also leave the edge raw as mesh fabric won’t fray.
Fold over elastic is also popular as it creates a gathered edge, and encloses the raw edge at the same time. This is great for creating expandable pouches and pockets on bags.
Greetings from Greece. I am a rather experienced sewer and I am currently sewing about 50 costumes for a dance show. I came across some tricky part and I need your help. I am trying to sew a regular leotard with a power mesh fabric for the top half of the back. I sewed one pice and took it for a fitting to make sure it fits and since the danser is a bit overweight the fabric at the back stretched a lot and lost its shape (back neckline went down a lot). My question is: Do I need to use more fabric than the pattern, in order to allow for the extra stretching, so I can have the outcome that I want?
Thank you in advance for your help. I would really appreciate a quick reply, as I am on a deadline. Thank you again.
Best regards
Ersi
Hi Ersi, it sounds like you need to increase the pattern for this person, which will take more fabric. It doesn’t sound like the fabric has very good stretch recovery which might not be helping either.
THank you very much for your rpely. I did exactly that. I kept hte same waist measurements and increased the back ones. It worked!!