How to Sew Fur + Tips for Working With Faux Fur

Since faux fur has a very specific grain, you want to make sure you place your pattern atop the fabric correctly. When placing your pattern on the back of the fabric, make sure the grain of the fur is laying down. You want your fur to follow your silhouette. This means the hairs should lie vertically.

Additionally, make sure all of your pieces are laid out so that the grain is going the same way on all sections.

First of all, faux fur is messy! Just like working with real fur, this stuff will shed. If you are worried about making a mess, consider cutting your faux fur outside or on top of some newspaper so that you can easily clean up. For more tips on this check out Sew Country Chic’s faux fur post.

BE CAREFUL when you are cutting faux fur. If you do not learn how to cut faux fur correctly, you can end up with projects with a bald spot. Hold the fabric with the backing facing you and cut very carefully along the backing in smaller snips.

Take extra care to make sure you are not cutting chunks of hair out. It is a good idea to try and cut some scraps for practice before cut out all of your pieces.

You can also cut back to front with an X-Acto knife rather than use your scissors. 

You can pin faux fur just like you do most other fabrics. The best way to pin faux fur, however, is to do it in a way that makes the pins very visible. This means using your brightest and longest pins on the fabric.

This way your pins will not get lost in the fuzz. Once you have pinned your pattern, you can use a thin, pointed tool like a chopstick or knitting needle to poke stray fur through the seam and back to the right side of the seam.

Find more tips on how to pin faux fur from Andrea Schwe Designs’ faux fur guide.

You can sew most faux furs with normal sewing needles and settings. Just like before every project (and maybe even more so with faux fur), you need to change your needle. A sharp needle means that your machine will be able to pierce the thick layer easily.

If you are sewing very tight seams, consider getting the fabric wet before you sew edges together. If the edges are wetted just slightly, those thick seams will not be as puffed out while you are sewing. Just make sure if you are planning on trying this that you test wetting a small scrap piece just in case your fabric reacts to water in a strange way.

After you are done sewing with faux fur, make sure to clean up! This means vacuuming up your space and, most importantly, CLEANING OUT YOUR MACHINE. Faux fur can get everywhere and will gunk up your machine quickly. Avoid a later sewing disaster by cleaning your machine thoroughly before your next project.