Sewing spandex to spandex issue

[CharlesHouse]

My girlfriend is trying to finish her Harley Quinn body suit for tomorrow. She has the stretchy material left from what was the hood of the suit to make the diamonds. However, she has tried everything to attach them to the suit and it doesn't work. Stitch witchery won't hold and she fears melting the suit. She said a straight stitch is difficult because the seams have to be really close to the edge of the diamond, and the fabric is slippery and will get caught in the machine and jam. The zigzag stitch looks like trash because I have never used it before.
Any ideas?

 

[Sulla]

Stretch the fabric a bit and run it through a serger or interlock machine? You can also try putting a piece of tissue paper in the seam to hold it together while sewing. the paper can be removed easily afterward.

Also try looking up the "Stretch-n-sew" literature.

 

[TheNickFox]

I've heard of people using double-sided tape to place spandex parts in place and to give the seam a touch of structure so your feed dogs don't chew up the fabric and feed it nicely through.

Try it on a sample and see how it goes.

-Nick

 

[mdb]

SImplest solution: hand sew with a back stitch while wearing it.

Honestly, if you're having trouble machining it a serger/overlocker is not going to help as you have to sew it from the inside and also figure out clipping corners and lining up and all that fun piecing stuff. Which I do a lot of, but it takes practice and familiarity with machine and materials.

But yeah put the suit on, pin in place, hand sew with a back stitch- it acts like a spring and so will stretch with the fabric enough. This will make the diamonds pucker when not worn but will be smooth when worn. Especially if you stretch a little as you go.

 

[fallimar]

I agree about hand sewing whilst wearing. Zig zag stitch does work but only really looks decent if you can adjust it so the stitches are very close together and not too wide. The issue then is that the closer together the stitches, the higher the chance of the stretch being affected.
The easiest method is hand sewing, even an overcast/whipstitch will do the trick if you go over it a few times or make the stitches small and do it whilst it's being worn. Just don't sew into the person inside!

 

[nightowl12020]

I know it's little late for this post but when having to sew a piece of material onto another, like a patch or design, there is a spray adhesive for that. It holds the piece you want to sew in place and doesn't clog sewing needles. It's used a lot by quilters and for putting on applique's. As for stretch material, not something I usually work in, so I can't comment.