Tips for Working with Fleece

I could also have titled this post "Why its important to use fresh needles." That is really my main point.

I bought some fleece in colors I liked with the goal to create a larger sized distribution pillow. Back in July I made a large version of the standard normal plushie. I basically wanted a version of that, but without the face. I find that a lot of my items are cute, which isn't a problem. It just really limits the gentlemen from desiring my items. How many males who are statistically inclined do you know that would purchase a cute little pale green plushie for themselves? Not many.

But even aside from that, I too would enjoy having a throw pillow on my couch that represented my love of statistics. So I'm creating this for everyone!

The point is, I started making this pillow on Monday evening. It was very frustrating. My top thread kept shredding and I couldn't stitch more than 1.5" without having to rethread the machine. Needless to say, I didn't get very far that night. I ended with a pile of scrap fabric with random stitches. My next step was to research on the world wide web and solve all my problems. I found a webpage with many suggestions, Sewing with Fleece Fabric. Feel free to browse on over and read up. My summary is below.

• Use new machine needles. I used Universal 80/12 and they worked great.
• Use 100% polyester thread. I only used it for the top thread, I kept my bobbin a cotton covered polyester and had no problems.

And that is it. I tried my serger, but that likely needs new needles too. Since fleece doesn't fray, I ended up not using the serger and just using my old Singer. She worked great (but only after I blamed the problem on her being old, dirty, and cheap).


You can check out my Nausicaa Distribution shop listing for the normal pillow here.