How Do I Sew With Vinyl or Glitter Vinyl?

Vinyl can be intimidating the first time you sew with it - and thick or glitter vinyl can be especially stubborn! It doesn't behave quite like fabric, and because needle holes are permanent, it can feel as though there's very little room for error.

But once you know a few tricks, it's actually a really fun material to work with. I use vinyl in my bags all the time, and these are the things I find make the biggest difference.

Use a walking foot or Teflon foot

Vinyl doesn't always feed smoothly under a regular presser foot, particularly when you're sewing several thick layers.

On a domestic machine, I often prefer a walking foot because it helps feed all the layers evenly. This can be particularly useful with heavy or glitter vinyl.

However, some machines struggle to maintain enough presser-foot pressure when using a walking foot. If you're getting tension problems or uneven feeding through multiple layers, try switching to a Teflon foot and increasing your presser-foot pressure.

The best option can vary between machines and vinyls, so test both if necessary.

Use a longer stitch length

Every stitch makes a permanent hole in vinyl. If your stitches are very short and close together, you're essentially creating a perforated line - and the vinyl can eventually tear along it.

I generally use a stitch length of around 2.5-3.0 when sewing vinyl, compared with around 2.2-2.5 for normal bag construction. For topstitching, I usually go longer depending on the look I want.

For the same reason, avoid unnecessary backstitching.

If your machine has an automatic locking or thread-fastening stitch, use that where appropriate. If you do need to backstitch, try to stitch directly into the existing holes rather than creating another row of perforations. Or consider leaving your thread tails long and simply tying off your thread on the back of your project.

Don't use a leather needle

This might sound counterintuitive, but I don't recommend leather needles for vinyl.

Leather needles are designed to cut through the material. That's useful for leather, but with vinyl those larger cut holes can weaken it and make it more likely to tear along the stitching line.

Instead, I prefer a topstitch needle, usually around 90/14-100/16 depending on the thickness of the vinyl and the number of layers.

A topstitch needle has a larger eye, which works well with the heavier threads often used for bag making, while still making a neat hole.

Don't use pins - use clips or tape

Unlike woven fabric, a needle or pin hole in vinyl won't simply close again.

Use sewing clips rather than pins whenever possible.

If clips can't reach the area you need to secure, I often use double-sided sewing tape or a small amount of fabric glue to hold everything in position until it's sewn. If clips won't reach and you need a temporary hold, I usually use painters tape to help hold stuff in place while sewing. 

Just be careful about placing adhesive directly where you'll stitch. Sewing through adhesive can leave residue on your needle and eventually cause skipped stitches.

→ My Sewing Machine Is Skipping Stitches

Use tape or glue instead of pressing

A lot of normal sewing relies on pressing seam allowances into submission. Vinyl has other ideas. 😂

Rather than reaching for the iron, I usually use fabric glue when I need a seam allowance to stay permanently in position.

For temporary positioning, double-sided sewing tape or even painter's tape can be incredibly useful.

Watch out for vinyl sticking to your machine

Vinyl - especially some glitter and high-gloss vinyls - can stick to seemingly everything.

It can stick to the presser foot, the machine bed and even to itself. That resistance can stop the fabric feeding evenly and contribute to uneven or skipped stitches.

If the vinyl needs to travel right-side-down across your machine bed, you can tape a Teflon baking sheet over the machine bed and just cut a hole over the feed dogs to create a slippery surface that will allow your vinyl to feed evenly. This is also a great help when free motion quilting to allow your quilt to move freely (which is what I'm about to do in the photo). 

Whenever construction allows it, I also try to avoid sewing with the vinyl side directly against the machine bed, as the feed dogs also risk scratching the vinyls surface.

Thick intersections can need a little extra help

Glitter vinyl and heavier vinyls can become particularly bulky where several seam allowances meet. Don't hesitate to beat a bulky seam allowance intersection down with a hammer to flatten it and make it easier to sew over.

Don't force the machine over a thick step. If the presser foot is sitting at an angle, use a hump jumper/seam jumper or folded scrap behind the foot to level it while you sew across the bulky area.

A slimmer presser foot can also be useful when you need to sew close to thick stabiliser or bulky seams.

And if your machine begins skipping stitches through these areas:

→ My Sewing Machine Is Skipping Stitches

What if I need to unpick a seam?

Ideally, avoid unpicking vinyl whenever possible because the original needle holes will remain. But mistakes happen. 😄

If you do need to remove stitching, the old needle holes can often be made much less noticeable with a little heat.

Place a sheet of baking/parchment paper between the vinyl and your iron, then carefully go over the area using medium heat. The warmth can help the vinyl relax and make the old needle holes much less obvious.

Always test this on a scrap of the same vinyl first. Vinyls vary enormously in how they react to heat, and you should never put the iron directly onto the vinyl.

Test your vinyl first

This is probably the best advice I can give when you're working with an unfamiliar vinyl.

Cut yourself a scrap and test:

• Your needle
• Stitch length
• Thread tension
• Presser foot
• Adhesives
• And heat, if you're planning to use it

Vinyls vary enormously. A soft upholstery vinyl may sew beautifully while a thick glitter vinyl makes your sewing machine question all of its life choices. 😂

Finding the right combination on a scrap is much nicer than discovering what doesn't work halfway through your bag.

Don't be scared of it!

Vinyl feels unforgiving when you first start using it because you can't treat it exactly like fabric.

But you don't need a special industrial machine or mysterious vinyl-sewing superpowers. 😄

Use a suitable needle, give your stitches a little more room, avoid unnecessary holes, help the vinyl feed smoothly and test unfamiliar materials before starting your bag.

Once you learn how your particular vinyl likes to be handled, it becomes much less intimidating - and opens up a whole new world of bag-making possibilities. ❤️