Minmom3

MIL used to make quilts with a faux fur backing. They were generally/always (as far as I know) one length of fur, hence no piecing needed. She left me 2 lengths of fur, one of which is now dedicated to a quilt for DD#2. Imagine my surprise/shock/horror when I realized that the thing was NOT 62-ish inches long, it was 124 inches long... And 62 wide, so it would make a nice quilt for a human toothpick, UNLESS I piece it into much shorter and wider piece. I have played with the graph paper, and have decided I can get it to 78" long and 83 wide...

THE QUESTION....:
What's the best way to stitch the seams? I am thinking that a standard seam will be thick (thicker than I want or think appropriate as the back of a quilt) and really ought to have all the fur in the selvage clipped off. Which is not remotely something I'm interested in doing! I don't have electric clippers, or the hands with which to do it manually, although I suppose I could sacrifice a razor and get rid of the fur that way... I was hoping I could do something like run some wide tape up the back side of the seams to help strengthen the edges of the fur, which are NOT strong, and do a blanket stitch or big fat zigzag that would open just enough to allow the edges to butt together, without allowing a gape.

I don't need an answer yesterday, because I'm working on the face, and I'm only at the starching stage... But I DO need to know the best way to join the pieces together, other than Mom's Magic Wand, which broke years ago.

Waiting hopefully for a brilliant idea to be relayed to me...

Melinda

Charming

Wow you just scared the heck out of me because I have couple of these and I thought they looked cute and now I am NOT GONNA TOUCH THEM.....will watch for answers...........

bearisgray

I would revise the top to be about 60 inches wide - plenty wide enough for a couch quilt or cuddle quilt.

HillCountryGal

When I've sewed fake fur, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Once you've made the seam, you can use a big needle-hat pin size and kind of pull/fluff the fur to the front. The fake fur I've worked with wasn't REAL thick. Mainly used it to make stuffed animals.

Will be interested to see what others think.

** Is it possible to take a small piece and test it to see how the fabric feels once you sew it together?

pinecone

Back in the 70's using fake fir, the long kind, we used a razor blade on the back side to keep the fur intact and less fluff. I used a not very wide zig-zag to join pieces but they didn't need to lay flat in a quilt.

piney

tkee

As you're sewing you need to push the fur out of the seam allowance as much as possible using a chopstick or something similar. You're bringing back memories of that fake fur jacket I made myself in the seventies. You also have to be careful and make sure the nap is in the same direction on both pieces.

auntpiggylpn

Here are some links about sewing fake fur Maybe you can find an answer somewhere! https://www.google.com/search?source...64...........0.

Minmom3

DD#2's boyfriend, with whom she lives, is 6'4" or more. I was begged to make it larger...

Charming - I'm confused?
tkee - Mom made herself a coat that made her look like a high fashion Sasquatch! She hand clipped the fur in the seams. I told DD#3 that she would be doing the seam grooming herself, since she wanted the quilt to be SO LARGE!!
Aunt Piggylpn - thanks! I'll check those out.

I just finished a 'baby' quilt (child is nearly 4 years old... ) with fur backing. Flannel face, two layers of batting to make it nice and poofy, and zebra 'fur' on the back. It's a great quilt, and the mom sent me a nice email with a picture of her daughter sleeping on the quilt the day she received it. The only reason I'm intimidated by the bigger fur for MY kid is that I have to seam the fur.. Humm, maybe a double seam where I also top stitch it down to flatten it. I'll peruse those links and see what they have to say.

annthreecats

I have made teddy bears with fake fur and the fur I used (a mohair) sewed with a regular stitch. You could always reinforce the seam with a zig zag. You can do whatever you want with it. From my experience it was easy to sew.

Becky Crafts

When I went to a tailoring course at UNH, we were told to shave the seam allowance on the faux fur to make it easier to sew. I haven't made a quilt with it, but made that long winter coat & it sure seemed like good advice at the time!