Tips for sewing double brushed poly fabric

Recently I’ve had fun working with a new kind of fabric.  Double brushed poly fabric is a knit polyester fabric that has been brushed on both sides, making it super soft to wear, but a little tricky to work with.

Before I started sewing with double brushed poly fabric, I researched it a little bit.  I concluded that if you have a serger you will have almost no trouble sewing with double brushed poly fabric.  Since I didn’t sew either of the shirts in this post with a serger (because I don’t HAVE one!) I’ll give you some tips I’ve picked up along the way about sewing double brushed poly fabric with a regular sewing machine.

Double brushed poly fabric has a 4 way stretch that is greater than 100% and it has good recovery, which means it’s very forgiving to sew with.  It also has beautiful drape so there are many garments that look quite lovely sewn up with double brushed poly.

Quite a few seamstresses used double brushed poly fabric to make leggings, which is what I used it for my 1st time working with it.  This fabric is 96% polyester, which the name indicates, and can be a little too hot to wear as a fitted garment in the summer.  The other 4% is spandex.  Some have found that looser, breezier garments from double brushed poly fabric work great in the heat.  Personally, I’ve worn these 2 tops all summer with no trouble.

My biggest tip for sewing with double brushed poly fabric on a regular sewing machine is to use the right needle.  A new stretch or ballpoint needle will help your machine NOT skip stitches.

My 2nd tip is to use the right thread.  I had much better luck with 100% polyester thread than cotton or even a cotton/polyester blend.

My 3rd tip is to use the right stitch.  My machine has a stretch stitch which worked great for straight seams.  (You can also use a narrow zigzag stitch.)

The next tip is that if your machine starts skipping stitches (which seems to be the biggest problem when sewing with double brushed poly fabric) stop!  Rethread both the bobbin and the main thread, and try again.

And finally, a tip few tips for hemming double brushed poly fabric:

use a double needle (or zigzag stitch,)

a longer stitch length (I used about 3.5)

some Lite EZ-Steam II fusible tape inside the hems

I also buried the ends of the thread inside my seams so they didn’t come unraveled.  This means I had to hem the sleeves and bottom before I sewed the side seams.  But it works great, and in almost 3 months of wearing, no popped hems!

Pink shirt details:

Pattern source: Hey June Handmade Union St Tee

Fabric source:  Raspberry Creek Fabrics (no longer available, but a nice selection of double brushed poly fabric)

Blue shirt details:

Pattern source: Hey June Handmade Lane Raglan

Fabric source:  CaliFabrics (no longer available, but a nice selection of double brushed poly fabric)

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