How To Sew With Crepe Fabric

If you’re a beginner, you may have heard that crepe is one of those fabrics that is difficult to sew with because it drapes, slips, and moves all over the place. While it is true that crepe is more difficult to sew than standard cotton, it’s not as challenging as, say, a stretch knit fabric. However, there are some challenges you want to be ready for before you begin sewing your first crepe garment.

The main challenges with crepe are the drapey, delicate nature of the fabric, combined with its tendency to fray easily. If you can overcome these aspects, you’ll be sewing with crepe fabric in no time.

• Learn more about the properties of crepe fabric

How difficult is crepe fabric to sew with?

Sewing with crepe fabric can present a few challenges due to its delicate nature, flowing drape, and tendency to fray. It’s certainly not the most difficult fabric I’ve ever worked with, but it has its difficulties. Here are some aspects that can make sewing with crepe difficult:

1. Slippery/Drapey texture: Crepe fabric can have a slippery texture, making it challenging to handle during cutting and sewing. The fabric may shift or slide, making it harder to achieve precise and accurate seams.
2. Fraying: Crepe fabric has a tendency to fray easily, requiring additional attention to seam finishes to prevent unraveling.
3. Stretch and distortion: crepe fabric typically has a slight give, so excessive pulling or stretching during sewing can cause distortion, resulting in uneven seams or a misshapen garment.
4. Transparency: Depending on the specific type and weight of crepe fabric, some variations may be semi-transparent. This can make it challenging to hide seam allowances, requiring careful choices in thread color and seam finishing techniques.
5. Needle and tension selection: Choosing the right needle type and adjusting the tension correctly is crucial when working with crepe fabric. Using a fine needle and setting the tension appropriately will help prevent the fabric from puckering or creating uneven stitches.
6. Pressing concerns: Crepe fabric can be sensitive to heat, and ironing without the proper precautions can leave shiny marks or damage the fabric. 

By understanding these challenging aspects and being mindful of them during the sewing process, you can overcome the difficulties and achieve excellent results when working with crepe fabric.

How to sew with crepe fabric

Before you start sewing, it’s best to seriously consider pre-washing your fabric. This will prevent shrinking later on after you’ve finished your garment. It’s typically not as much of a problem for polyester material, but rayon and natural fibers have a greater tendency to shrink in the laundry.

You also always want to practice on a scrap piece of fabric before sewing your main garment. This can prevent heartbreaking mistakes, and help you know what you’re doing before you start on your sewing project.

1. What kind of pins and needles to use with crepe?

Use fine, sharp needles and pins to avoid damaging the fabric. Ultra-fine pins will do a better job of holding layers of fabric together without leaving holes in the material. You may also want to keep the pins in the seam allowance to further prevent pinholes from showing in your final garment.

For sewing crepe fabric, you may need to switch to a microtex needle. This is an extra fine needle that will prevent puckering while sewing on delicate fabric, like crepe. For some types of crepe, you can get away with using a size 60 or 70 universal needle as well. So be sure to test your needle on scrap fabric first.

2. How to deal with crepe fraying so easily

While most crepe seams can be finished as normal, after the seam is sewn, some types of crepe fabric can fray way to easily. When dealing with this type of material, you may want to take some extra precautions to prevent excessive fraying:

• Make sure to give yourself a wide seam allowance (at least ⅝ inch) so it doesn’t fray past the seamline. 
• If your crepe fabric is fraying too quickly, consider finishing the raw edges of the fabric before you start sewing. For example, use a zigzag stitch over the edge, cut the pieces with pinking shears, or apply fray check. 
• Another approach is to use French seams. This type of seam finish encloses the raw edges, preventing fraying while giving the garment a neat and professional finish.
• Make sure to handle the fabric with care and avoid unnecessary pulling or tugging to keep the crepe fabric from fraying prematurely

3. How to sew with semi-transparent crepe

Most crepe is pretty much opaque. However, crepe chiffon, crepe georgette, and some light-colored crepe fabrics are semi-sheer. Sewing with semi-transparent crepe fabric requires some special considerations to achieve a polished and professional-looking result since you will see the seams and thread through the fabric. Here are some tips to help you navigate the process:

• Select the Right Thread: Consider using a fine or lightweight thread that won’t add unnecessary bulk to your seams.
• Consider Seam Finishes: French seams, bias-bound seams, or narrow rolled hems can provide a clean and polished look without compromising the semi-transparent nature of the fabric.
• Careful Pinning and Handling: When working with semi-transparent crepe, avoid using pins that might leave visible holes or snags. Instead, opt for clips, fabric weights, or easily removable basting stitches to hold the fabric pieces together.

4. What stitches to use on a sewing machine?

When sewing with crepe fabric, you generally want to use a relatively short stitch (around 2mm) for a secure seam that doesn’t stand out too mucht, and moderate thread tension (somewhere around 3 to 5). However, these settings can vary dramatically depending on your machine, so always test for yourself.

You also want to test the stitches, foot pressure, and thread tension on your sewing machine. Before sewing your final seams, test your stitches on a scrap piece of fabric to ensure the tension and stitch length work with your fabric. Adjust as needed to achieve the desired results without causing the thread to jam or scrunch up the fabric.

5. How to cut pattern pieces from crepe fabric

Crepe fabric can move around a lot while cutting. I find that it’s usually easier to use a rotary cutter with fabric weights instead of pins and scissors (you’ll need a cutting mat to use this method). If you’re dealing with a slippery crepe, using a rotary cutter can provide cleaner cuts and minimize fraying. Just ensure you have a sharp blade in your rotary cutter.

If you’re still having problems, you can even opt to cut out your pattern pieces one layer at a time. This will prevent the bottom layer from moving around too much, and you can just focus on the single layer you can see.

6. How to keep crepe fabric from stretching and distorting

Crepe fabric has some give to it, especially along the bias. If you’re not careful you can end up stretching the fabric out of shape and ruining it (this is especially common along necklines and armholes). It’s important to handle the fabric gently and avoid stretching it while cutting and handling. 

Using fabric weights instead of pins can help minimize distortion during cutting. Also, it’s very important to NOT skip staystitching along curved or biased edges since this is a good stabilizing technique. When sewing seams, use a shorter stitch length and decrease the presser foot pressure to avoid warping the fabric as you sew.

Additionally, consider using fabric stabilizers or applying a lightweight spray starch to help manage the fabric’s movement during sewing

7. Pressing crepe fabric

You may need to use a pressing cloth or a piece of scrap fabric when pressing crepe to protect it from direct contact with the iron. Polyester crepe is especially susceptible to damage at high iron temperatures. In general, I recommend using a low to medium heat setting and gently pressing, to maintain the fabric’s delicate texture.