Sewing with faux leather: needles, feet and no pins

Faux leather, a polyurethane or PVC coating on a fabric backing, sews on a regular machine once you change three things: a sharp microtex needle in 80/12 to 90/14, a non-stick, roller or walking foot so the surface stops dragging, and clips or basting tape instead of pins, because every hole is permanent. Lengthen the stitch to 3–3.5 mm (1/8 in), skip the seam finish since nothing frays, and flatten seams with topstitching or glue rather than a hot iron.

Quick reference: how to sew faux leather

What is faux leather and which kind are you buying?

PU leather is a polyurethane layer on a woven or knit backing of polyester or cotton. It is soft, drapes, breathes a little and is the kind sold for garments. PVC, or vinyl, is heavier, stiffer and shinier, more waterproof and less supple; it is the upholstery and bag fabric. Stretch faux leather is PU on a knit backing with elastane, stretching 20–50 % across the grain, and is what pull-on pencil skirts and leggings are made from. Suede-look microfiber is a napped woven and sews like one. "Vegan leather" covers all of these, so turn the fabric over and read the backing: a knit backing stretches, a woven one does not.

Weights run from about 300 to 600 g/m² (9–18 oz/yd²). Fold a corner hard and release it: a good PU shows no white crease line and no cracking. The backing fiber decides how the garment feels against the skin.

Do you need to pre-wash faux leather?

No. Wipe it with a damp cloth if needed and never put it in the dryer. Store it rolled around a cardboard tube with the right side out; a fold leaves a crease that may crack the coating. A shipping crease relaxes if the fabric lies flat in a warm room for a day, or with a hair dryer on low on the wrong side.

How do you cut faux leather?

• Cut a single layer, wrong side up, with pattern weights and a rotary cutter; shears drag on the coating and wander. For paired pieces, cut one, then flip the pattern over for its mirror image.
• Mark on the backing with chalk, a ballpoint pen or a washable marker. Mark notches with a 3 mm (1/8 in) snip or a chalk line, never a tracing wheel.
• Faux leather has no nap but often a slight sheen that changes with direction. Lay every piece pointing the same way.
• On a woven backing, follow the grainline as usual and avoid bias-cut pieces, which stretch and bag. On stretch faux leather, put the greatest stretch around the body.
• Hold the layers with clips, binder clips, or double-sided wash-away basting tape placed inside the seam allowance. A glue stick in the seam allowance works too. Pins go only where a seam will cover the holes.

Which needle, thread and stitch work on faux leather?

A microtex needle has a slim, sharp point that pierces the coating cleanly. Use 80/12 on thin PU and stretch faux leather, 90/14 on heavier fabric, and 100/16 when you topstitch with heavy thread. A leather needle has a wedge-shaped point that cuts a slit; it is for real leather and very heavy vinyl, and in a thin PU the slits line up into a tear line, so leave it in the packet. Needles and thread guide covers the needle types and sizes.

Polyester thread is strong and does not rot in damp. Set the stitch to 3–3.5 mm for seams and 4 mm for topstitching; shorter stitches perforate the coating. Do not backstitch at the ends of seams, since the doubled holes weaken the fabric: leave long thread tails and tie them off on the wrong side instead. On stretch faux leather, seams that stretch in wear need a 1 mm × 3 mm zigzag or the lightning stitch; a serger with a stretch needle also works, and the knife gives a clean edge.

The coating grips a metal presser foot, so the fabric stalls, the stitches shorten and the row wobbles. A non-stick (Teflon) foot, a roller foot or a walking foot fixes it; the walking foot is the best choice on stretch faux leather, where two layers also creep against each other. Without a special foot, sew through a strip of tissue paper laid over the seam and tear it away afterward. Lower the presser-foot pressure a notch. Test seams on a scrap first before you touch the garment pieces: you cannot unpick a faux leather seam without leaving a line of holes.

How do you sew and flatten the seams?

Sew each seam once, right sides together, with the clips removed as they reach the foot. Trim the allowances to 6 mm (1/4 in) on curves and clip them; grade them where seams cross. Then flatten the seam, because faux leather will not press open:

• Topstitch. Finger press the allowances open and topstitch 3–6 mm (1/8–1/4 in) each side of the seam, or press both to one side and sew one row. This is the standard garment seam and reads as a design line.
• Glue. Brush fabric glue or contact cement on the allowances, press them open with your fingers and tap them down with a rubber mallet or run a wallpaper seam roller over them. The seam is flat and nothing shows on the outside.
• Fuse. A strip of fusible knit tape on each allowance, pressed from the wrong side on the synthetic setting with a press cloth, after a test.

Facings in faux leather are thick: replace them with a lining fabric, a binding in a lighter fabric, or a single turn topstitched. An exposed zip is easier than an invisible one on faux leather and suits the fabric; how to sew an exposed zip shows the method. On a stretch faux leather skirt an elastic waist avoids the zip altogether.

Can you iron faux leather?

Mostly, no. The coating glazes or melts under heat, and PVC can stick to the iron. If a seam truly needs heat, use the synthetic setting, a press cloth, the wrong side only, a second or two, and a test on a scrap first. A seam roller, glue and topstitching replace the iron on this fabric.

How do you hem faux leather?

A clean rotary-cut edge is a finished hem on a skirt or a jacket and is the lightest option. For a turned hem, fold up 2–3 cm (3/4–1 1/4 in) once, glue it or hold it with basting tape, and topstitch with a 3.5 mm stitch. On stretch faux leather a twin needle on a single fold lets the hem stretch. Skip double folds; three layers are stiff and ripple.

Common mistakes with faux leather

• Pins outside the seam allowance. Permanent holes on the right side.
• Backstitching and short stitches. Both perforate the coating and start tears.
• A standard metal foot. The fabric sticks and the stitches bunch.
• A hot iron on the right side. Glazing, melting, or coating on the iron.
• Wrong backing for the pattern. A pull-on skirt needs stretch faux leather on a knit backing; a woven-backed faux leather needs a zip and wearing ease.

What to sew with faux leather

• A pencil skirt in stretch faux leather with an elastic waist, no lining, a raw-edge hem and topstitched seams. If a step gives you trouble, Sewly's sewing guide answers questions about your own pattern, such as how to handle the waistband on a fabric that cannot be pressed.
• A tote bag in a heavier PU, with topstitched seams and handles box-stitched through a single layer, or a faux leather base under a canvas body.
• A zip pouch in thin PU: small, quick, and the right first project to test your needle, foot and stitch length before a garment.