Batik fabric hard to sew through!
 

goodness, i've never had so much trouble sewing through Batik fabrics. when i have two of them together, they tend to dull my needle quickly or get pushed down into the feed dogs. i have some more that has fern print on them and when i add one of the fern with the other, it goes through easier.
I changed to a Sharp needle but now having more problems.
how in the world will i be able to quilt this thing?? anyone has this much trouble?
most of the fat qtrs were splotchy print and then some fern print that was not as wide either.
I have three more rows to piece, then to put the rows together. But not tonight?
all lovely Fall colors too.
maybe i should let a Long arm quilter do this one, he, he.

Try a size 11 needle. I can sometimes hear the needle go through a heavily dyed batik, but it always goes through. Do you have a staight stitch machine or a SS needle plate for your machine? When I try to piece on a zigzag machine, the fabric is pushed down into the feed dogs.

Did you pre wash your batik? I hear it really helps in sewing on it. I have batiks but haven't found a project for them yet.

I was told to use a quilting needle. I haven't had any problems but I'm also using a Featherweight machine and nothing seems to phase these little machines! Even layers of flannel went through just fine. My Bernina was not liking these two fabrics very well so I pulled out my featherweight! It did such a great job.

Sorry you're having problems with batiks. I use them (prewashed) all the time on my Bernina with none of the issues that have been mentioned. I use a microtex (aka sharp) needle, size 90/14, with a zigzag stitch plate and there's no resistance at all, absolutely none.

I had problems with my old Bernina, even with a new needle and prewashed fabric. I have not had any problems with my straight stitch Janome. I have sewn a great many batik fabrics since I changed machines (the motor gave out on my 3 year old Bernina.) I had a few minor problems with my Janome 6600 doing embroidery edging stitches through multiple layers of batiks. I had a featherweight for a while. I did not much care for it, but it did sew batiks just fine.

BTW, Superior Threads sells a super-sharps needle that I have been very pleased with since I got the first one a few months ago.

Yep its horrible fabric. Getting the quilt top together was a real chore. Its been in the closet waiting to be quilted for about a year now. Good luck with all the suggestion.

I hate to say this, but I've never had a problem with batiks when I hand sew or hand quilt through them. I prewash mine, so maybe that's the key.

Janet

Love batiks! No problem with stitching on my Janome 6600 even some minimal quilting on those not sent to LA Susie.

I washed mine before doing anything but I had 4yrds that I cross hatched quilted then cut and sewed to make a jacket out of and had not problem and used the same needle thru the whole process which was just a general quilting needle.