Sequin Fabric Sewing Inspiration and Tips

Sequin fabrics. They look so shiny and pretty wrapped around the bolts in the fabric store. They call to you, oh the pretty things you can sew from me! But sewing with sequin fabric is a lot different than sewing on regular fabric. The same shiny sequins that make the fabric so pretty can also complicate sewing on it. But don’t let that stop you. You just need to be prepared so your sequin sewing project will turn out how you like.

If you’ve never sewed on sequin fabric before, check out this post from Melly Sews. She gives 12 tips for working with sequin fabric. In addition to the 12 tips, she tells about the main types of sequin fabric, the tools and sewing machine settings to use, and ways to finish it

And once you’ve got a plan for handling the sequin fabric, you can pick out the perfect project to make from it!

Melly Sews has a great tutorial showing how to make a lovely sequin skirt that’s pictured at the top of the post. It’s perfect for holiday parties or just going out. You can dress it up or down to suit the occasion. Her tutorial is a video so you can watch along and see how to make one for yourself! It’s a simple pattern that uses only straight cuts and straight seams.

Ruffled blog shows how you can sew a simple mermaid style skirt. The lines of the skirt are simple which makes that sequin fabric the star of this skirt. It’s perfect for any dressy party or formal occasion, and no one will believe that you made it yourself.

With this tutorial from Sweet Verbena, you can sew a gorgeous sequined clutch. It has a fold over top and a zipper closure, and is covered with sparkly sequin fabric. It’ll be your go-to bag for any special occasion so you can easily carry your phone and other essentials with you.

This fidget pillow by Swoodson Says is made from reverse sequin fabric. When you run your fingers against the grain of the sequins, they reverse and show another color or pattern on the back side of the sequins. You can even draw simple designs or letters in the sequins. How fun is that!

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

Next Pattern:

I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

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