What can I make using fleece?

[danagee]

Please gimme some good ideas what I can make w/fleece fabric, something easy, please.


Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[tarabenet]

Can you narrow that down any? LOL! You can do just about anything with it, and the biggest plus of all is that you don't have to finish the edges if you don't want to. Blankets, jackets, beanbags and other toys, accent pillows, under-door draft stoppers, bags, baby slings, stuffed animals and dolls, tree skirt, gift bags, window toppers, "flannel" board covering or cut-out material -- is that a helpful starter list? You can cut the edges, cut them in vertical strips and knot them together, pink them or use other decorative cutting patterns (waves, etc.), pierce/punch patterns into them and lace ribbon through or not.

Have you stumbled across a motherload of cheap/free fleece, or what else might be bringing on this question?

[danagee]

thanks for all those ideas! I've always wanted to work with fleece because I heard it was easy to deal with (the edges, at least) and I always wanted to make a cute hat for the kids.
But I was wondering what else could be made.
Plus, I think Hancock Fabrics is having a fleece sale, but I haven't really shopped aroudn to see if it's a good deal compared to www.fabricdepot.com and their 40% off sale today & tomorrow.

Benet, have u ever made a fleece jacket w/zipper & hood? I was thinking about that too.


Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[tarabenet]

It is perfect for hats! Also great for scarves and such. Lots of fun things you can do that kids love. Fringe the ends, or fringe the whole thing and do the blanket-tie thing, raw-edge applique circles and other cutouts onto a contrasting color, etc. I haven't done the zipper jacket, but it shouldn't be very hard. Just look for a pattern marked easy.

Hancock has several brands/qualities, and price will definitely reflect the quality. There is a fair amount of varation in quality -- cheaper fleece will pill or fuzz sooner and may tend to fade more -- but when you are talking about kid stuff you probably only expect one season out of it anyway, so just grab whatever strikes your fancy and go for it.

[danagee]

ahh...right, thanks for the input on quality. I hadn't thought about that.
Benet, while I've got your attention, I have a couple sewing maching questions I wanted to ask you. I knwo you helped me out a long time ago with stuff like this.
My machine right now has 2 issues. probably just needs to go in for a tune-up or something, but in case it's something that I"m doing, I thought I"d ask.

1)zig zag stitching. The needle goes to the right and as it comes back to the left, it's folding the fabric underneath of it and it creates sort of a ditch effect under the stitching. i can't figure out how to stop it from doing this. Maybe my fabric was too lightweight?

2) I noticed on straight stitching that the top stitch looks to be not perfectly straight. Could I have been tugging on the fabric too much while I was stitching? THe bottom is perfect but the top is not at all perfect.

Thanks SO MUCH for your input!

Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[tarabenet]

The problem with the zig-zag is called "tunneling"-- for obvious reasons. Any machine can do that. Lightweight fabrics are much more likely to do it than heavy ones. The fabric needs stabilizing. You may be able to ge away with just starching the fabric pretty heavily before you sew. You may need to add a layer of another stabilizer, might be able to get away with tissue paper, even. Also, slow down your sewing a little bit, as faster sewing tends to increase the tension and cause more draw-up. You may be able to turn down your top needle tension a little bit and fix the problem, but therisk is that you could throw off the balance between the upper and lower threads and get a sloppy look.

The second problem could be one of several things. If the bottom is looking good though, then this wasn't caused by your tugging. I'd start with your needle. Have you changed it? Change out your needle with each new project, or every 4-8 hours of actual sewing time. Change if you hit a pin. Change if things are looking sloppy. Change if the project is just frustrating you. A new needle can do wonders. Also, make sure you are using the right needle for the fabric you are working on. A large or a dull needle can't pierece the fabric cleanly and may get sort of "bumped" to one side or the other of the threads in the fabric. You'll find that synthetic fabrics (including the fleece you are looking at) will dull the needle more quickly than natural ones, too.

If these things don't fix it, let me know and we'll go into more stuff. And yeah, you really want to have your machine serviced annually. Unless you are using it very very heavily, though, yearly should be sufficient!

[danagee]

I knew I could count on you for great advice! thanks so much, this has really helped.
I did change the needle, but that was when I first began the project and the bad stitching occured at the very end, makes perfect sense. I forgot to change the needle again!
I'll be sure to change it before I begin sewing next time.

and I'm glad to hear that the "tunneling" isn't due to my machine! My machine irritates me sometimes and when things like that happen, I just get more frustrated with the machine. I couldnt figure out what the deal was with that! I didnt realize you can use tissue paper as a stablizer, that would've been a good choice w/the particular project I was working on.
THANKS again!!
Dana


Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[ellies mom]

You can make a poncho too. I've made a few for Ellie. I just cut out an oval from the fleece, cut a hole for the head and attached a hood (simple rectangle). I sewed fake fur to the edge of the hood and embellished the bottom edge of the poncho with two different sizes of rickrack and pompoms. I also attached a tassel to the back of the hood. It didn't take long and it is really cute.

[danagee]

Sew cute! (Get it, "sew" instead of "so"??!). Now that I have a dd, I will try one, it'll be sew cute on her!!


Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[ellies mom]

Bahaha!!!!