Sewing a REALLY bulky item

I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

Does the short end _need_ to be folded under twice or can it just be
done once around the D ring? That would decrease the bulk a lot.

My only other advice is a leather needle rather than jeans and to be
sure the stitch length is fairly long (this is not the time for 2.2)

marcella

In article ,
(Patti S) wrote:

I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

Bigger jeans needle? Can you let up the pressure on the foot pressure?
That might help a bit. This might be a good sample to take to a sewing
machine salesperson for a demo/challenge.
taris

Marcella Peek wrote:
Does the short end _need_ to be folded under twice or can it just be
done once around the D ring? That would decrease the bulk a lot.

My only other advice is a leather needle rather than jeans and to be
sure the stitch length is fairly long (this is not the time for 2.2)

marcella

In article ,
(Patti S) wrote:


I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

Sorry Patti - do it by hand with a thimble.
..
In message , Patti S
writes
I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

My suggestion would be to zig-zag across the raw edge on the end and
only fold over once through the buckle. Much easier in all sorts of
ways. BG

Have fun,
Pati,in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks



Patti S wrote:
I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

I have an easier option for you: take a strip of elastic (1/2" wide x
circumference of neck + 2") - make a tube of fabric to length + 1" for
seam allowances - leave wrong sides facing out - take end of elastic
and thread through buckle doubling elastic back - tack down - thread
buckle into fabric tube (it will be on the right side of fabric when
tube is turned) and stitch across width of tube to fasten the elastic
into the seam - turn the tube so that the length of elastic is inside
with the extra length hanging out the other end -use this end to
attach D-ring by doubling over on the elastic and tuck the end into
the open tube end after adjusting for neck size. The elastic will
make it safer for a cat to free itself if it gets tangled anytime.
jennellh


On Aug 11, 1:04 pm, (Patti S) wrote:
I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

Howdy!

Send the cat out to choose her own.
You know how picky cats are.
;-D

R/Sandy-- sending you a virtual popsicle, Patti


On 8/11/07 12:04 PM, in article
, "Patti S"
wrote:

I'm at my wits end! I'm trying to sew a cat collar for one of my
friends. It's a strip of fabric, with lightweight fusible interfacing on
the wrong side. Then, you fold each of the long ends towards the center,
and then fold the entire strip in half, so there are no raw edges, and
then you stitch down the length of each side. Here's the tricky part. To
put the buckle & D ring on, you fold one end over, then fold it over
again. So..... I'm trying to sew through 3 layers of doubled over fabric
with interfacing. It's only 1/2 inch wide, so not only is it bulky, it's
awkward to sew such a small piece, and keep the buckle out of the way. I
have broken THREE needles trying to sew through it! I've gone slow, I've
tried turning the wheel by hand the first couple of stitches, and I've
even tried zig-zagging. I'm using a "jeans" needle. Anyone have any
advice? Or..... should I tell her to just go buy a cat collar?!?!

Patti in Seattle

Ohhhhh Patti, PLEASE don't make me do it by hand..... lol :-)

Patti in Seattle

From: (Patti) wrote
Sorry Patti - do it by hand with a thimble. .
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Thanks Marcella......
My stitch length is just about at "baste"... I only takes 4 stitches
across.... lol. However, I do believe I have a leather needle somewhere,
so maybe that'll do it!

Patti in Seattle

(Marcella*Peek) wrote:
Does the short end _need_ to be folded under twice or can it just be
done once around the D ring? That would decrease the bulk a lot.
My only other advice is a leather needle rather than jeans and to be
sure the stitch length is fairly long (this is not the time for 2.2)
marcella

Hi Taria
I'm using the largest "jeans" needle I could find.... however, I think
I'll try Marcella's suggestion of a "leather" needle. But... GREAT idea
about taking something like this to a SM dealer!

Patti in Seattle

From: (Taria) wrote:
Bigger jeans needle? Can you let up the pressure on the foot pressure?
That might help a bit. This might be a good sample to take to a sewing
machine salesperson for a demo/challenge.
taris