Sewing with Flannel, Flannelette and other brushed fabrics
With the winter season coming up fast, it is a great time to be making snuggly flannel nightgowns like the Snowdrift pattern series. Now for some of you, sewing with these fabrics will be a new experience. It should be a warm and fuzzy experience - no pun intended! And it can be with a bit of care. Just remember that these fabrics can be very forgiving and so comfy to wear.
A quilt shop is a great place to start shopping for flannel, as it is quite popular in quilts at the moment. Do touch and feel the choices you have and at a quilt shop you won’t be faced with a selection that is limited to baby prints. Your choices will run from 45” to 54” and if you are lucky even 60”! What you will need to check is if the fabric is brushed on both sides. Some people won’t care if the side next to their skin is fuzzy but for me it is a very important thing.
Flannel and flannelette tend to shrink so, be prepared to wash and dry your fabric once you bring it home. Some will continue to shrink for several washings and there is no way of predicting this, it is better to error on the side of caution and make your gown and sleeves long enough. Once you have pre shrunk your fabric, you will want to press it with a steam iron before cutting out your pattern. If you are folding the fabric to cut it ‘on a fold’ or double thickness, take care when smoothing it out. It is easy to smooth the top layer further than the under layer and when you have cut out a large piece you may find the top layer ends up being shorter than the under layer! You could cut everything in a single layer or take a tip from the professionals and slip some sheets of tissue between the layers. You will cut through the fabric and the tissue. This works very well with velvet too.
My favourite thread for flannel and flannelette is 100% cotton, 50-weight thread. Buy a good quality thread and your garment will last for years.
My favourite seam finish for flannel is a serged edge. French seams are a bit too bulky and most items you are making with flannel or flannelette will be getting a lot of washing and wear so simpler is better. And serging is faster too. If you don’t have a serger, then an overcast edge will work. Or try a flat felled seam for a more tailored look on some garments such as pajama pants.
If you are using Velcro snaps perhaps you will want to use an old needle to stitch them down. Be sure to discard this needle when you are finished as it will be too dull for good stitching. If the glue on the back of the domes gums up the needle, a cotton swab or pad soaked in alcohol or nail polish remover or “goo gone” will dissolve it easily between applications of domes.
Machine stitched hems are fast and easy and very practical with flannel. Hand stitching for facings will disappear in the fuzz. But don’t get lazy and make the stitches longer just because they are hard to see!
Smocking on flannel can be a wonderful opportunity to experiment with threads and beads. Why not try something different like Pearl cotton or rayon thread. Can’t find rayon floss or the colour of rayon you want? Just go to your sewing machine dealer’s thread department and pick up a couple of small spools of rayon for machine stitching! Cut the number of strands you need and knot them onto your needle to prevent wearing of the eye on the strands or the slipping of the strands during stitching. If the thread is too kinky from being wound a spool, then hold it over a steaming kettle and the kinks will fall out. Beads add a glitter or sparkle to the density of a brushed fabric so they are a welcome addition to your smocking.
There are loads of other techniques you can do on flannel that can make your garment special if you don’t want to smock. Try appliqué hems in coordinating print fabric. (Most quilt stores sell groupings that match so all the guesswork is taken out of it. All you have to do is experiment. If you are making sleepwear be bold, go wild! It isn’t as if you are going to wear your gown out in public. Have fun with your sewing!
