The Fabric Maverick says... Let me give you some tips for working with oil cloth and cotton laminates

Oil Cloth and cotton laminates are fun to work with once you have a few tips to make it easier. Oil cloth and cotton laminates are different. Oil cloth is 100% vinyl which has been screen printed and can have a cotton mesh or flannel backing.  Cotton laminate is 100% cotton which has been heat bonded to a laminate or vinyl base. These fabrics have several common denominators:

1. Not machine washable

2. Cannot fold -should be rolled

3. Require special sewing methods

Do's

1. Use a Teflon presser foot or masking tape when sewing. If you are using masking tape, apply it to the presser foot. If you place on the fabric, the residue will be hard to remove.

2. Use binder clips or tape to hold fabric in position. If you pin it, make sure it is within the seam allowance. Otherwise the holes will show on the finished side.

3. If using an interfacing, you might want to use a temporary spray adhesive to hold the fabric and interfacing together. I have used this method and found it works really well. You can also reposition the fabric on the interfacing easily. It does not gum up your needle.  I used NR-369 with great success.

4. Use a size 16 needle if sewing 2 pieces of oil cloth together. If you are working with cotton laminate, you may use a size 14 or less.

5. You may use a regular cotton/polyester thread in most applications.

6. Fabri-tac is a good adhesive for most projects.

Don'ts:

1. Sew one time- if you have to remove stitches they will show

2. Do not use pins 

3. Do not fold

4. Do not apply heat or iron.

5. Do not put in the washing machine- wipe clean with a sponge and mild detergent

If your fabric is wrinkled or is showing a fold mark, lay out in the sun or warm room.  Give the fabric the chance to remove the wrinkles. Fabric.com mails all of these types of fabrics on a roll to minimize that problem.

These fabrics are waterproof, but where you create seams are not. If you wish to have a completely waterproof product, you will need to apply a seam sealant.

Finishing raw edges:

Since this fabric does not ravel, nothing needs to be done. If you want a more finished look, you can use double sided bias tape or sew a hem.  Sewing a hen will be easier with cotton laminate than oil cloth.

Look out for Thursday- Kristl is back with a great sew or no-sew project for oil cloth.