- Tutos EN
How to quilt faux leather
On the website, we propose to sew a version of the Suricate bag in quilted faux leather (find sewing kit 
here).
Quilting a fabric?!
Faux leather?!
Don’t worry, it will be fine! 
Quilting a fabric?!
Faux leather?!
Don’t worry, it will be fine!
Supplies
- Not too thick faux leather
- Rather thick wadding
- Matching thread
- A Japanese ruler or patchwork ruler
- An heat or water erasable pen
- A sewing machine
- A leather needle n° 90
- A Teflon presser foot
- Clips
- Un peu de patience
Supplies
- Not too thick faux leather
- Rather thick wadding
- Matching thread
- A Japanese ruler or patchwork ruler
- An heat or water erasable pen
- A sewing machine
- A leather needle n° 90
- A Teflon presser foot
- Clips
- Un peu de patience
Quilting fabric is not complex, it's just long...
Preparation
I advise you to quilt piece by piece.
For that, cut a rectangle a little wider than the piece to quilt (3⁄8″ (1 cm) in height and width for example).
In the case of the Suricate bag you will have 4 pieces to quilt:
– 2 front/back
– 1 bottom of the bag
– 1 top of the bag
📐
Next, you need to choose the size of the quilting. The spacing between the lines and the angle between the lines.
In the case of the Suricate bag we recommend a spacing of 1.2″ (3 cm) between the lines and an angle of about 85 °.
As an indication we have drawn our first line at an angle of 50° to the bottom of our piece of fabric.
No need to get out the protractor!
For the 50° angle, stand at a 0° angle and rotate your ruler to the right to approach a 45°/50° angle.
For the 85° angle, stand at a 90° angle and rotate your ruler slightly to the left to reduce the angle and approach 85°.
Choose the angle that looks best to you.
Realisation
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1. Drawing the markers
Get out your erasable pen, we are going to trace the markings on the faux leather.
The markings are drawn on the right side of the fabric, apply yourself!
1.1 Draw the first line (you have to start at some point).
As previously defined, this line is drawn at a 50° angle to the bottom of the piece.
1.2 Draw the second line at an angle of 85° to the first.
1.3 Draw all lines parallel to the first line.
As previously defined, the lines are 1.2″ (3 cm) apart.
Do the same with the second line.
📌
2. Pinning the fabrics
We will pin the different layers to be quilted.
Since we are working with faux leather, we recommend using clips rather than pins to avoid damaging the fabric.
2.1 Cut a piece of wadding to the size of the piece of faux leather to quilt.
2.2 Carefully pin the wadding and the faux leather on all 4 sides.
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3. Setting up the machine
We will prepare the sewing machine.
Since we are working with faux leather, we recommend that you use a Teflon presser foot to prevent the faux leather from catching.
For an aesthetic result and since we are working on faux leather, we recommend a stitch length of 3.5 mm (1⁄8″ to 5⁄32″).
3.1 Evaluate the length of stitch on a scrap of fabric.
Indeed, on the faux leather, the seam ripper is prohibited … otherwise it leaves a look like Emmental 🙈
3.2 In the same way, evaluate the speed in order to obtain a regular stitch and to limit the grip of the simili.
🧵
4. Making the quilting
Let’s start quilting.
4.1 Start by sewing one of the lines in the center of the piece. Carefully follow the mark drawn earlier.
Hold the piece flat with one hand on each side of the seam.
4.2 Sew the 2 lines to the right of the first line formed.
Always hold and flatten the piece with both hands.
4.3 Sew the 2 lines to the left of the first line formed.
This will prevent the piece from curling.
4.4 Continue alternating right and left sewing until you have sewn all the lines in one direction.
4.5 Sew the first line at 85° to the center of the piece.
4.6 Apply the same method, sew 2 lines on the right and then 2 lines on the left.
So on until you have sewn all the lines.
✨
5. Finishing touches
You are nearing the end, only the finishing touches remain.
5.1 You need to erase the markers. There are several options available to you.
On imitation leather, pens that erase with heat usually do not mark the fabric. So you can moisten a cotton wipe(reusable) and run it over the different lines to remove as much as possible.
You will then have to iron your piece (fusible interfacing), the heat of the iron will finish your work!
5.2 Trim any protruding threads. Do the same with the protruding wadding.
You can now cut your pieces following the pattern and apply fusible interfacing.
