[Jane]

Piper’s closet is full, so I thought it was time to sew something for myself. I picked up a cute summer dress pattern and some nylon jersey. Before I start, are there any considerations I need to take in working with the nylon jersey? Do I treat it the same as a cotton jersey? The pattern says if using a knit, go down a size. Since it is a poly, do I still go down a size? Do I still use a ball point needle?

Jane

[Nicole]

I have not sewn with it but I have read that a wooly nylon thread can be helpful. I have used a stretch lurex and that was not fun to sew, my needle ‘bounced’ off it. I got the best results from a very fine universal needle although I would have thought a ball point would be better.

This lovely lady http://thornberry.wordpress.com , is very experienced with all types of ladies sewing. Her blog may be useful.

I am sorry not to be more help.

[Lightning McStitch]

Don’t know either but I’ve had the same problem trying to punch holes through nylon fabrics and resorted to a denim needle (the only truly sharp ones according to the local sewing machine repair man).

Personally I’d gauge your sizing on how stretchy it is and how good the recovery is. Good luck.

[Jane]

Thank you ladies. I did a bit more research and found this information on working with matte jersey http://www.emmaonesock.com/guides/matte.asp

This is the pattern I am going to make http://www.simplicity.com/p-11798-misses-plus-size-easy-to-sew-pullover-dresses.aspx . Pretty forgiving I think, so we’ll see what happens.

Jane

[Violaisabelle]

The first question I need to ask is, does the fabric have any Lycra/spandex in it? If yes, I would start out using a stretch needle, checking out the stitches. If you don’t like the quality of the stitches, then I would try a Jersey/ballpoint needle. If the fabric is not highly elastic (large amounts of lycra) then use a Jersey/ballpoint needle. I received this information from Rhonda Pierce, the Marketing Director of Schmetz Needles. I asked her a question about the needles a few years ago and this is the advice she gave me.

Schmetz Needles is a wonderful resource for information on needles. Did you know they came out with new needles that have colour coding? 🙂 Here is a link to the site with information about needles: http://www.schmetzneedles.com/all-about-needles/#sthash.FmDvbaTo.dpbs You can download the chart to have on hand. 🙂

Regarding your question about knit and downsizing. I am *guessing* the fabric is allowing for both woven and knit fabrics? If I have that correct, then I suspect what they mean about going down a size with knit is the ‘negative ease’ that comes with knit fabric. Does the pattern give a ‘stretch % chart on the back of the envelope? Using Liesl’s information on this site with determining the stretch % of your fabric, you can figure out if you need to treat your fabric more as a woven or stretch fabric.