How to Cut & Sew Faux Fur

Love to use faux fur, but hate the mess? Maybe you've tried sewing with it in the past and had your heart broken by wobbly seams. Well, it's all really quite simple to manage when you know how to wrangle it. Here are a few key tips you need to know about how to cut and sew fake fur for any project, from fursuits to fashion, and everything in between.

I got inspired by a recent trend of fur vests and coats popping up in shops this season. However, when I tried them on, I either resembled a wookie, or fainted from the price tag. I knew I could create something similar to suit my own needs, and thought this would be a great time to share some special tips for success with sewing fake fur. I chose fur that's both long and short, and paired it with linen to be able to illustrate a variety of situations you might encounter (and reduce my resulting ressemblance to Chewbacca. Not hot.)

Step 1: Determine the Nap of the Fur

All furs have a direction that the fur "grows" in, called the nap.

At all times, you need to keep the direction of this nap in mind. If you're sewing a pair of bottoms, you don't want one leg to look like the fur is growing down and the other up! Same goes with fronts and backs.

On the back of the fabric, mark several arrows to indicate the direction of the nap. Remember to place your pattern pieces accordingly and you'll never go wrong!

Comments

[marcellahella]

useful tips!

[speltbaker]

I've been sewing since forever.. there is always something new to learn! thanks - this is a great instructable.

[cdawisconsin]

Had to cut out 20 faux fur scoodies for a child crafting club activity. Got three done with a scissors. What a mess. Googled for an answer and this popped up. That was the Instructables project since we got the scoodie pattern here too. Thanks.

[scoochmaroo]

Agh! Glad your searches brought you back home to Instructables :D

[snotty]

Chewbacca = HOT

[HollyMann]

Yes I made this mistake before!

[momijilover]

thank you so much for these tips. i just started working with faux fur and have been running into troble. i think i will have better luck now. your a godsend

[VanaG]

Wow, I am so glad you posted this. I was planning to do something with some faux fur, but it keeps shedding. Now I know why. Thanks.

[kakmer]

Best tip ever!!

[ohclaire714]

Great tips. I have a book somewhere in my craft closet on sewing with real fur, but 1) I don't have time to look for it and 2) who uses real fur anymore? Thanks for the helpful how-to!

[jessyratfink]

These are all great tips. I keep wanting to make a fuzzy WtWTA hat and this makes it seem not so scary. :D

[scoochmaroo]

Yay! Win-win. Can't wait for the pattern :D