How to sew with Wooly nylon?

I can't help with the wooly nylon question, since I've never used it, but you can make a swim suit with a regular sewing machine as long as you have a zig-zag feature. Just set the machine for a narrow zig-zag stitch and that will give the seam the stretch it needs.

Another question is the type of needle you are using. Swimwear fabric is a knit fabric, so you need to use a ball-point needle. If you are already using a ball-point needle, try switching to a new one. They do sometimes wear out or just are defective right from the package. You might find that simply changing the needle will solve a lot of your problems.

I'll let someone else answer the wooly nylon question. You might try sewing on a scrap with regular thread to determine whether the problem is with the wooly nylon or something going on with the machine or needle. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Just to add to the other great replies ...

In a straight sewing machine (lockstitch style) you can only use the wooly nylon in the bobbin.

If you try to use wooly nylon in the needle then there will be lots of trouble. Because, the hook that catches the needle thread to loop around the bobbin relies/depends on a loop of thread to be formed at the needle point after the needle penetrates the fabric and starts to go back up (the needle going up relaxes the needle thread which forms a loop, relaxing wooly nylon creates a wooly blob).

So, with wooly nylon , instead of a loop, a **big fuzzy/wooly nylon blob** forms at the end of the needle (where a loop is expected). The hook passes right through the middle of this blob and does not form a good stitch just a mess as it loops half the wooly nylon properly and then carries the other half back around for the next stitch so it this continual relooping of half the previous thread eventually causes all the stich problems.

The thread in the bobbin has no such relaxing or loop formation requirements which is why you can use wooly in the bobbin.

An a-side, if there was a way to make wooly nylon stiff like regular thread until washed (i am thinking how soluble stabilizer works) then that would make it possible to use wooly in the needle. Anyone know of such a stabiized wooly nylon product ?

hth robb

Don't. It's morte bother than it's worth anywhere other than a serger/overlocker. Also avoid the 'overlock' stitches on a regular sewing machine: they don't give enough stretch.

Use good quality polyester thread, a SUPERSTRETCH needle (for Lycra containing fabrics and elastic), and a narrow ZZ for seams, coupled with a wider ZZ for 'neatening' the edges once trimmed.

For really good advice on all things to do with sewing swimwear, go to: >

I've only made a swimsuit once, and I used a Stretch'n'Sew pattern and the techniques Ann Person taught to do it. I have to admit, it turned out swimmingly! I wore it until I outgrew it. It was the first (and last) swimsuit I ever had that incorporated all the features that I wanted, and it looked darn good, too.

The only swimsuit I ever made was a teentsy, weentsy yellow bikini. Unfortunately I didn't learn until I was *in* the pool that the elastic would stretch waaaaay out. Oops! Now picture me trying to climb the pool ladder, hanging onto a three-year-old AND my suit. ;-}

Do you have pictures? O:-)

Probably, although they would be on 35mm slides. DH had a wicked sense of humor. ;-)

Beverly

When I was a youngish teen, probably around 13, my mother gave me her two-piece swimsuit, which I was excited to get. I wore it to the pool in my hometown while visiting with my father. Unfortunately, I was a bit smaller than my mother, and when I went down the slide into the pool, the top of the suit lagged behind a bit - and ended up around my neck. For some reason, I decided that I was invisible below the water line and struggled to put the top back where it belonged. Nobody said anything to me about it, so perhaps I was successful. Either that, or I provided a few minutes of laughter to an unknown number of people.

I tried to accept that challenge Beverly but the squirmy three year old ruins my view ;)

in my experience teentsy bikini's and two's and three year olds are a recipe for whoopsies ...

Let 'm laugh... ;->

Beverly

Oh, good! ;-}

As I found out, to my dismay....

Beverly