I'm new at this been a quilter off and on about 7years need tips on cutting and sewing satin

RUN, don't pass go, just run! It's the pits to sew.

Satin is directional - like corduroy - so use a "with nap" cutting layout.

It also tends to ravel wildly.

I use pinking shears to cut with and maybe sew with an overcast stitch if your machine as that feature.

DITTO (And I am shouting)

welcome!

thanks thats what iwant to do is run

could you fuse interfacing to make it stiffer and more manageable?

What were you planning to do with the satin?

I think "Run!" is a good response! :D

If you have a serger, wherever possible, serge rather than cutting the satin with scissors. Mark the seam lines on the satin with an air-soluble marker and serge on the lines.

A serger can save your sanity when you're working with satin. :)

If I were to work with satin for a quilt, I think I would wash and heavily starch it (1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water), throw it in the dryer, and then iron it. The heavy starching would help keep it stable during cutting and piecing.

I wanted to use it as a sashing in a small guilt

I tried ONE time and it was a nightmare. I say run, run fast as you can.

adding a light interfacing to the satin would be perfect for use as sashing...that would make the weight of the sashing more equal to the weight of the cottons and would prevent fraying.

When stitching satin together it slides around a lot, but sewing it to cotton should not be quite as bad...still, be careful to pin well to keep it where you want it.

Hello and welcome from TN, can't help you, don't use satin, hope it works out for you

My daughter wanted pocket squares for the guys in her wedding party made with satin - I gave it a shot (and felt like giving myself one too!) Finally took that darn satin to a seamstress from Thailand where dresses are made of the stuff - even she had problems with it!!!! This is material not to be dealt with by anyone in their right mind.

Heed the advice I hear many board members giving:
stay clear of satin

This might be a good time to use glue basting - to keep that satin right where you want it while you sew!

Using a walking foot would really help too.

A walking foot is good but do lower the pressure on your foot if possible. On my Janome 6500, I set the pressure between 1 and 2 and it stopped puckering. Also using a smaller needle (I used a 60) seemed to help. I learned while making a wedding dress. You can also use a stretch stitch if you have one on your machine and it will also help prevent puckering.

Never done it!

A dear elderly lady used to make quilts for all the "kids" who graduated from high school and attended our church. My two kids were the grateful recepients of these quilts. For some reason my daughter's was made of satin. These are slightly larger than a lap quilt - almost twin sized. Well, her quilt was so "her" - all girly and stuff - she loved it, but ... couldn't keep it on. Taking a nap on the couch? Quilt would slide to the floor. Laying down for just a minute and pull that quilt up over you? Not for long! Slip slide away!

That dear lady is now nearly 100 years old and lives in a care center. I told her just the other day that I was taking over the Senior Quilt gift project. She was delighted. But ... I won't be making any from satin!

There aren't memory quilts - just plain old simple things - but the kids used to have such fun wondering what theirs would be like and taking them off to college with them.

For sashing I can imagine it would be lovely! Good luck!

Some of the satins are dry clean only and tend to melt with ironing since they are made with acetate. So check the care label if you are planning on quilting since we tend to press at every step of the way. Also on knits and slippery fabrics like satin use a smaller needle like a size 11 and use a ball point tip. That way the needle pushes between the threads. Satin tends to runs at times. Beware.

You can use fusible lightweight interfacing and cut with pinking shears. That is how I have handled it. I made a special occasion quilted purse with it and I did the same thing when I used some Kimono silk for a dress. This technique does make it much easier to use silky/fraying material. I learned this from my MIL who was a seamstress who made specialty garments for women... She made and altered quite a lot of wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses.

Welcome from (snowy!) Ohio. I don't like using satin either for the reasons already mentioned

I'd guess you need to check the grade of the satin you have selected. I made a first communion dress from the crepe variety and it did slide around a lot but then I've been used to working with cottons and, once I got into the routine of handling the fabric, it wasn't quite so bad. Then a bridesmaid dress. Glad I went back to the shelves and got a better grade of bridal satin. No problem with that one. And, yes, there is a direction to satin so factor in yardage and layout, if you are making a garment from it.

If you already have the fabrics -

Make some samples and see how it goes.

Also check for the "melt" temperature of the fabric.

Some polyester satins can tolerate washing better and warmer ironing temperatures than the acetate ones.

Yup, some of it melts and does nasty things to the bottom of the iron!!

Amen sister!

I have made several things, tho not a quilt, from satin. Satin is a type of weave, and can be made from cotton, wool, silk, synthetics, etc. Most important is to make sure your satin is compatible for washing with your other fabric. Don't use it with anything like cotton without preshrinking your cotton first. Most satin in the stores is synthetic and will not shrink like your cotton, etc. Use pinking shears, and a TON of patience. Yes, it will slide while sewing. You will need something to "unslick" the shiny side; starch might work. Go slow.

I made satin pillowcases for one of my kids. I made french seams and it wasn't all that hard to handle.

It must have been a "good" shiny satin, because it tolerated heat well.

I say try it and then you'll know how to reply to the next person asking about using satin.

Use a light-weight fuseable interfacing before you cut. It stops the raveling and distorting of such a soft fabric.

Don't do it! It might be okay for a small piece added to a square but as a border......run for the border.......

Any slick material..... I always say forget it...drives me crazy cause it wiggles all over the place. Good luck...hope you do better than I did.

Really, RUN

My DIL bought some really beautiful shiny slick fabric and made a quilt for my GD. Oh, boy! There is no FMQing it. It was impossible. She still hasn't finished it and is soooooo disappointed.

I've used satin quite often and never have any trouble. I've made wedding dresses, pillow cases, pillows and several other things. I even used Tissue Lame' in wall hangings and to me that is much worse than satin.

i used satin for a cornerstone in some sashing... i measured & marked before i cut it, then ran fraycheck along the lines... then cut it... helped with the fraying a lot & the little girl i made it for loved to rub the satin squares, so worth it, i guess

I use the satin binding a lot on the baby quilts I make. It is folded in half so I just pin it on, do a zig zag stitch which gets both sides at the same time. Never had a problem. I even seam it like I do my regular binding (on the diagonal)... Try it on a small piece of fabric first to see if you like how it looks. Good Luck!

Walking foot, roller foot or teflon foot is the way to go if you don't have an IDT system built into your machine. If you haven't got access to any of those, lots of pinning with lace pins or thin applique pins.There is also a double sided wash away tape that might be useful to 'glue' everything in place before sewing.

I am working on the latte quilt which is all satin. I iron fusible batting onto the back (iron with the batting facing you). I sew as soon as I have done this to prevent ravelling. Works fine.