pity party

[Auryn]

I hope you guys don't mind but I can only share this with people who will appreciate and understand my frustration.
I've been working on a costume for a con for the last 3 months.
Everything is basically done except I needed to sew on a strip of leather binding tape on several edges of a spandex catsuit (cut in half at the waist and zippers removed so it doesnt look so cheesy) so I could add eyelets for lacing up.
I sewed a strip of cotton (as per the reccommendations of many of you lovely seamstresses that are much better than I) to the front and back of the spandex edges- no problem.
I sewed the back half of the leather strip to the spandex edge so that I wouldn't have to worry about shifting- no problem.
When I flip the other half of the leather strip over to cover the front- the part that will show- so that I can finish the edge- all hell breaks loose.
The material just refuses to slide under the presser foot smoothly and bunches up and turns into a total nightmare. 
I've actually had to stop a few times and walk away because I was so frustrated I wanted to cry.

I know the machine can handle the material- I sewed test strips of leather before starting on the finished pieces- I got up to 6 layers thick of the same leather before the machine started having issues with it. The leather alone moved beautifully.
I tried sewing just the spandex- no problem
spandex and cotton- no problem
spandex, cotton and the back side of the leather (finished side facing down towards the machine, suede side facing into the fabric.) not a problem- smooth like butter.

When I get to the combination of leather-cotton-spandex-cotton-leather- all hell breaks loose.

[Goody]

You have my pity! I haven't any suggestions but I'm sure someone here does!?!?

[gem]

Oh, no!!  How frustrating--reminds me of getting to the very end of the Much Ado project, when all that was left was the buttons on the bodice, and my machine buttonholer wouldn't work. Sob!

Do you have spare binding? If I'm understanding correctly, the body of the garment is spandex, right? Can you unpick what you've done and go back and sew the binding on the FRONT first (the way you'd normally sew binding on), so the part that won't show can take the brunt of your machine's frustration?

Some other things--

--Do you have either a Teflon or roller foot for the machine? Or, in a pinch, a walking foot? You can put stabilizer or parchment paper down to protect your fabric from the little teeth of the walking foot if necessary, but at this point I think small marks from the walking foot would be preferable to the current results you're getting.

--Can you adjust your pressure foot pressure?

--Can you pull some of the layers? Do you really need both layers of cotton interfacing? Milord's Gimli tunic has leather binding, and I didn't do anything special to the fabric. Granted, I was working with linen and wool, which are WORLDS easier than spandex, but I didn't have any issues with the layers or the leather.

[Auryn]

Thanks girls,
I went on a 40 minute walk with the boyfriend and the dog to cool my brain off.
Gem,
Yes the body of the outfit is spandex.
at first I only had the one layer of cotton on the back as per the instructions of everyone I asked- to give the spandex support. I added the second one between the top of the spandex and the back of the front piece of leather binding hoping that the problem was the leather sliding around on the spandex.

Ive done leather binding, by hand and machine, plenty of times and never had this problem before, but this is my first time working with spandex, and it will be my last if I can help it.

i am using a teflon foot - I don't think I mentioned, this is my singer 15-91 1947 model- as far as I can tell theres no way of changing the foot pressure, if there is I would love to learn how.

I've already completely unpicked everything I had done- I was so frustrated I almost took scissors to the whole thing.

Im contemplating putting a coat of vegetable oil on the top of the leather to see if that helps it slide along. I figure that shouldnt gunk up the machine and the leather is sealed so maybe it might work.

if that doesnt work I am thinking of changing the binding material- to what I don't know though.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

my recommendation would be to take a plain old needle and thread and hand-stitch every half inch or so along the thing so that the materials can't slide. If you run it slightly off the side of where you're putting the seam, then you could just go back and rip it out afterwards. I do this when lining suede, because my satin tends to shift to one side if I don't.. it does require a bit of brute strength to get the needle through the layers, but it's worth it to get the project done evenly, and I've never had a problem with seeing the holes afterword, leather has a tendency to kinda swell and fluctuate and fill them back in naturally.

[Rani Zemirah]

Could you machine stitch the front (visible) side first, and then go back and hand stitch the back side, without going through the front layer of leather? 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Years ago when I worked at the Costume Shop, I used a sheet of plain paper when working with Spandex and other stretchy fabrics like that because they had a tendency to bunch up no matter how well pinned pieces were.

Do a few test runs on scraps. Place paper over your Feed Dog not to exceed your seam allowance, then what you are planning to sew over the paper. Try that and see what happens. It might work, it might not. The paper nicely rips off.

I have done that with softer leathers as well.

[Butch]

Something else to consider:  assemble the pieces together, pin it, then put some wide tape over both sides.  Either clear packaging tape or masking tape.  Wide.  On the very top and the very bottom.  That should hold everything together, and should prevent any bunching.  Then, after the sewing is done, the tape is very easily removed.

I use tape all the time to mark my buttonholes.

[Auryn]

Thank you everyone
as always Lady Kathleen you are a life saver.
I covered the leather with some tissue paper and it worked like a charm.
to get it off I just lightly misted it with water and it the paper came off without disturbing the stitches.

Thanks for the tip Butch,
unfortunately most kinds of tape on leather are a disaster if you plan on taking the tape off at some point. at least in my experience.

Im going to try to finish the whole thing when I get home, and if it is successful I will post the results in the mundane sewing thread.

Thank you everyone for talking me off the ledge.

[CapnFayeCutler]

Thank you everyone
as always Lady Kathleen you are a life saver.
I covered the leather with some tissue paper and it worked like a charm.
to get it off I just lightly misted it with water and it the paper came off without disturbing the stitches.

Thanks for the tip Butch,
unfortunately most kinds of tape on leather are a disaster if you plan on taking the tape off at some point. at least in my experience.

Im going to try to finish the whole thing when I get home, and if it is successful I will post the results in the mundane sewing thread.

Thank you everyone for talking me off the ledge.

Is this by chance a costume for Dragon*Con? Also let me know how the leather/spandex combo works out! What costume are you doing? *bounce* I'm going fangirl, sorry... XD

[Rani Zemirah]

Oooh, I know, I know!!!   


And yes... it's for D-Con!!! 

[Auryn]

Hehe
yes its one of my costumes for dragon con
its a cheetara costume.

I finally managed to get the whole thing working rather smoothly.
The main key was putting tissue paper below the whole thing and on top of the leather under the presser foot- made a huge huge difference.

Today my 2 part eyelets came in (gotta love the girl at 123 stitch who sent them out super fast) so aside from a belt cheetara is all done.

I couldn't have done it without the psychological support from everyone here

[Rani Zemirah]