Quick Tip: How to sew sequined fabric

Today’s Crafty Advice question is about sequined fabric:

Oooohhh sparklies...

 

Dear WhatTheCraft,

I’m trying to sew knit material with sequins that are glued on. My machine works fine with everything else I’ve sewed, but when I tried to sew this fabric, the needle gets gummed up with glue residue from the fabric and starts skipping stitches. Is there a special needle I should be using or is my machine just not capable of sewing this type of fabric?

Sequins are tricky. It’s probably more likely that the fabric is to blame than the machine, especially if the glue is actually getting on the needle. You might have the best luck hand sewing sequined fabric (that goes double for sequins that are sewn on to the fabric and not glued), so you can stitch around the sequins instead of trying to sew through them with your machine.

However, some tricks you can try: use a titanium needle, and put a layer of wax paper over the seam while you sew. Sew right through the paper and remove it when you’re done. The wax should “wipe” the needle off as you sew, preventing the glue build up.