I need help with Velcro!
 

Hi,

I'm trying to sew some darn velcro, but the thread keeps bunching up above my needle. Anyone have some good advice for sewing on velcro? Like needle size, what's the best thread or any other tricks? I would love to hear them.

Micha

Most velcro has a flat edge on each side. This is where the sewing should be. Use any good quality polyester thread. A zipper foot will help you sew along the edges.

Good advice, Terry (mytwopals). That's exactly what I do.

I need help with Velcro
 

Are you working with sticky back Velcro by chance?
I've never done anything special when sewing Velcro except using a zig zag stitch.
Rethread both bobbin and top thread before trying again.

Sounds to me like something could be stopping the thread from going through the tention and the needle eye keeps rubbing against the thread, then it frays, then breaks.

I had a little burr on the bottom of my spool of thread and "sometimes" it would get caught and snag the thread. I checked it a couple of times before I finally found it. I used my finger nail file and filed it down. Same thing with one of my metal feet. I guess the needle hit it made the burr, I filed that one down too.

Syl

When I have made doll clothes for my granddaughter, I keep lubricating my machine needle with vasoline and it really works! The needle this way slides through the fabric without getting stuck.

Good tip! I find sewing on the tiny pieces of velcro on doll clothes to be an adventure. It got so I am now gluing them down with a dab of non-washable glue. They seem to hold well.

I had one machine that was picky sewing on the hook side and ended up just putting paper on top to protect the thread and tearing it off when done.

Thanks for posting and all the tips, great subject. I have been sewing the velcro on the doll clothers by hand as I never could figure out how to use the machine. Now that I can no longer use my index finger (arthritis) it makes it hard to hand sew. I have to re-learn some sewing by machine.

If I need to sew velcro, I use my featherweight. It does the job!

Excellent Topic and Tips!!!! I have encountered the velcro problem myself, several times. I will be giving these tips a try the next time I have to sew on velcro. Thanks for sharing.

Ah, Velcro...great invention but hard to work with!! And if you EVER get a long strip (pair) it takes forever to pull it apart. LOL

I use a denim needle-they tend to be larger, and the smaller the needle, the more problems I have with velcro. Also, polyester thread is a must. And, as someone else said, if you have to sew across the velcro, especially the hook side, cover it with something. I use kleenex, or coffee fliters, or whatever thin, tearable stuff I've got scraps of handy.

Using the zipper foot really does help a lot.

I was sewing sticky velcro and had the same problem with the thread sticking to the needle above the sewing. i used Dawn dish liquid to clean the needle. I sewed the rest of the sticky velcro on by hand.

Thanks I needed this tip too.

This is what I do too. The larger needle helps a lot-usually use at least a 14, sometimes 16 (denim).

Pat

I use nylon invisible thread. Its tough and USUALLY doesn't break.

Never use the sticky.Get the sew on only......

velcro is really thick so you need to increase the pressure on your presser foot....it is usually done with a little spring loaded button on top of the case right above the needle bar... push the center of the button down and the pressure will increase, causing it to 'hold' the velcro tighter...edge stitching with the zipper foot is a great idea as well...i would use the combo....

i had trouble with the sticky back velcro,so now I buy the plain velcro and lay some kitchen wax paper over the velcro when I sew it.

d.swindle

Guess I should have asked this question months ago! I too used the sticky velcro and threw away quite a few needles in the process! Thanks for bringing up the subject!

Have you tried the soft velcro? It is more like felt and sewing through it is a breeze!

I wish I knew about this a few months back!!!What a pain!!!

I have just used some invisible nylon thread in bobbin and top on diaper bags and had no trouble, just used regular needle that I sewed the bag with

Well, I got all my velcro sewn down. I used a size 14 needle, a short straight stitch and stuck close to the edge of the velcro. It worked! And I'm happy with the results. One thing I did notice was helpful was when sewing down the 'hook' side, I tried to sew in the small space between the hooks. This way my thread was less likely to get tangled. Thanks for all the great tips.

Hi,

I always sew it on that little flat edge on the side, with a zipper foot.

Don't ever sew sticky velcro with your machine, my dealer preaches that over and over....will gum your machine up big time!

Hope it worked for you!

Bev

I never seem to have a problem sewing it down but it usually on a larger project.

Thanks for all the tips - I have avoided velcro because my first experience was awful :( Now I may have to try it again - Thanks for posting and and all the great advice!!!

I like to use one of my larger size needles when sewing velcro; it seems to help.

This is a good topic

In case you haven't tried it, there is an iron on velcro that has received very good reviews - several have said that it gets stronger with use....might be a solution to any type of sewing.

This. I volunteer in a hospital sewing room, and when we need to sew velcro we always use the 'vintage' machines. They do a much better job than the newer machines.

I learn something new all the time from this board, did not know there was iron on velcro, now that sounds wonderful. I have to look for this now, never seen it.

Just looked on the Michaels site and they have it, it is called Velcro Fabric Fushion. Not sure of the cost, but this would be perfect for doll clothes. Now I have a reason to go to Michaels. Sewing velcro can be a problem, lately I sew on the edges with a zig zag stictch (small) and it works but for very small pieces it can be an issue. Thanks for sharing this tid bit, certainly worth a try.

Hello all. I know this post is older but thought I would contribute. I am a beginner sewer who has just rediscovered sewing after a few decades and I love it. I'm attempting all manner of machine sewing from quilting to fashion accessories (gloves, etc.). I have never in my life attempted velcro and in doing some searches for techniques I came across this post with valuable tips. I'm not one to shy away from a challenge and could've simply tried the iron on or sticky velcro but I'm trying to expand and perfect my sewing abilities so jumped right into the sew on type. :-)

With my first attempt I used a leather needle, cotton thread and a needle/thread lubricant called Sew Smooth by H.A. Kidd (hakidd.com). I'm in Canada so this was easy to find. This lubricant is great because it evaporates fairly quickly and leaves no residue. Someone mentioned using vaseline but I was a bit concerned about greasy stains so researched a bit and found this product. My first attempt was a failure in that the spool thread snapped near the end (I was doing a 1" x 2" piece). The bobbin thread which was also cotton held fine. The snapped thread could be due to not continually lubricating the needle but also I probably should've used polyester thread like others mentioned.

I ripped out the thread and with my second attempt I switched the spool thread to polyester (I left the bobbin thread as cotton only because I was too lazy to change it... if I was doing a much bigger piece I would've changed it to polyester as well). As with my first attempt I put a dollop of the Sew Smooth on my finger and lubricated the needle (which also lubricates the thread) and I started to sew as close to the velcro edge as possible. The difference this time is that I would stop sewing every 1/2" to re-lubricate the needle/thread when it was in the up position. I also put a piece of paper over the hook side as others suggested (I only used lubricant on the loop side, no paper). Not sure if this actually helped with easing the presser foot along but I had no trouble. The next time I have to do velcro I might try it without the paper just to see if it helps or whether lubricating is enough.

With my second attempt I sewed both pieces of the velcro (1" x 2") with no trouble. No thread breakage and the needle seemed to go through just fine. As any FYI the single dollop I started with lasted through one of the 1" x 2" pieces. I used a new dollop for the second piece. If the pieces were bigger I probably would've had to use a couple dollops on my finger to get through each piece. I'm sure nylon thread could be used instead of polyester but I didn't have any nylon on hand.

I hope this helps.

A leather needle is overkill. I use a size 11 sharp needle for 90% of my sewing, including sewing velcro. I use a straight stitch machine with a narrow foot or a zipper foot on a zig zag machine so I'm sewing at the flat edge of the velcro. The last time I sewed velcro I was making some travel sewing tool organizers on a Singer 301. Even using a stiff interfacing I didn't have to change my needle or cotton thread.

Cari

In our home business, we sewed a ton of Velcro. I used a zig-zag stitch that went just off the edge of the Velcro on one side. I used a size 90 universal needle, and Guterman polyester thread. Towards the end, I was frustrated with the Guterman thread breaking and snarling above the needle, so went to Dual Duty (Coats and Clark), which worked better.

It's possible a leather needle is overkill. In my research I happened to come across some pages that recommended the leather needle for velcro to avoid snapping the needle. I've had a needle snap before (totally unrelated to velcro) and didn't want to risk that so I went with what was recommended given this was my first time. At some point I might try a lesser needle to see if it works but it took all of 10 seconds to switch them out so it wasn't a bother for me regardless. :-) I also might not need any lubrication on the needle/thread after having switched to the polyester thread but if it means easier passage of the needle and thread through the velcro this too wasn't a burden but is something I will also test on my next velcro project. :-)

I forgot to mention I used a straight stitch and an older Singer 328K.