How to sew muslin?

Helena Lachowiczová
2023-08-15T15:34:31+02:00

Muslin is a very pleasant fabric, and it's often unfairly feared by seamstresses. On social media, discussions often feature information that isn't entirely accurate regarding sewing the fabric, which then leads to unnecessary concerns. Let's debunk these myths and misconceptions, and discover how easy it is to sew with this fabric.
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In today's article, I will introduce you to muslin fabric and techniques on how to sew muslin, how to deal with finishing the edges of muslin, and how to prevent seams from fraying when sewing. Muslin is a very pleasant fabric and often seamstresses are unfairly afraid of it. On social networks, discussions often contain not entirely accurate information regarding sewing the fabric, which then leads to unnecessary fears. So, let's debunk these myths and misconceptions and find out how easy it is to sew with this fabric.

Muslin dress Romance

Let's start with the basics, what is muslin?

Muslin is a pure cotton fabric without any elastane blends. It does not stretch. It is often referred to as Double Gauze, but that is not entirely accurate. Muslin comes in many forms. It can be in a double weave, just like Double Gauze, but there is also a triple weave - Triple Gauze, and also Stretch Muslin, which is essentially double gauze stitched with a very thin elastic thread, making it slightly "shirred" in advance and therefore stretchy.

Then we have embroidered muslins, bamboo muslins, which often lose their crinkled appearance and resemble broderie anglaise more. But they are still muslins.

The last category is pure Diaper Cloth. Which indeed bears the name "Double Gauze" and you can identify it very easily. This gauze is used to make baby diapers and tetra diapers. These are those soft squares that our mothers had to boil and we had to wear when disposable diapers weren't available.

Muslin is always a woven fabric.

It has a regular grid weave and is very airy and loosely woven. This makes it incredibly breathable and you barely feel it on. Compared to classic cotton, due to this loose weave, it is also very adaptable and can be easily shaped without the need for darts. However, this is often a big stumbling block for muslin. The looseness is up to 45% when pulled, and if you're not just sewing squares, which you're not, it's necessary to tame these "snakes" somehow.

What is sewn from muslin?

Don't be afraid of muslin. It's a perfect material for a warm spring, hot summer, and warmer autumn. You can sew dresses, blouses, cardigans, large scarves, skirts, pants, and shorts for yourself from muslin.

Practically anything you can think of is achievable with muslin. For children, the list is exactly the same. Plus, we add pajamas, diapers, bath towels, ponchos, rompers, and adorable accessories.

Chloe pattern for muslins Poncho pattern for swimming

How to sew muslin?

You already know what muslin is and what you can sew from it. But now for the fundamental question: How do you sew it? Your first encounter with this fabric can be fun. You look at it. The fabric is terribly wrinkled and seems to be constantly stretching in different directions. Compared to "tamed" and rather boring knits, this type of fabric is a fun wild card.

The wrinkling is a result of the fabric being wound onto large rolls with a relatively loose weave, causing it to wrinkle significantly. With muslin, however, this is not a flaw. It's actually its characteristic appearance. It will wrinkle again as soon as you wash it. Does it make sense to fight the wrinkling? No. It's a typical feature of muslin, so it's best to use it to your advantage and factor it into your sewing.

What does make sense to fight, on the other hand, is the stretching in all directions. Muslin stretches a lot at various angles rather than at 90%. As soon as you cut something on the bias, it stretches immediately. That's why it's important to understand the rules for cutting and sewing muslin. This is precisely to avoid cutting a T-shirt and having the neckline so large that even a cow could stick its whole head and horns through it.

Rules for cutting muslin:

1. iron before cutting

2. sharp scissors that don't pull fibers, not a rotary cutter, which pulls fibers

3. iron straight lines before cutting and check for stretchiness

4. if they are stretchy, the fabric must be repositioned

5. necklines cut according to patterns for elastic materials must be enlarged

6. do not sew ribbing into necklines, they tend to fray and deform the fabric

7. necklines must either have a fastening or be gathered with elastic

8. necklines, sleeve caps, bias-cut parts of the pattern should be interfaced and stabilized

9. interface with either fusible interfacing or fusible stabilizing tape

10. you don't need to interface the entire piece, just the bias-cut sections

11. interfacing will strengthen these bias sections and prevent them from stretching out

12. you must do this before sewing, otherwise you will stretch out the bias sections

Rules for sewing muslin:

1. On a single-needle machine, sew wider seam allowances - around 1 cm

2. Always use needles suitable for classic cotton - standard needles with a slightly rounded tip

3. Pin well before sewing

4. Do not pull bias edges to prevent further stretching

5. If you are gathering the fabric on the machine, first secure the edge of the gathered piece with an overlock stitch to prevent the gathering thread from pulling out and running through the weave.

6. It is necessary to secure the edges to prevent fraying

How to finish muslin?

Okay. Rules are rules. Practice is practice. It's important to know what and how, and ultimately simply adapt to the given project. Another operation you'll address on muslin projects is finishing the hems. T-shirt sleeves, T-shirt lengths, dresses, skirts.

The most common way to finish is with a so-called Baby seam. It's a nice, simple seam that you can easily create using any machine. Its advantage lies in perfectly hiding the fraying edge of the fabric inside the seam.

How to sew a Baby seam?

Trim the edges of the muslin well. Make sure the edge is straight and stretches as little as possible. If it does stretch, it's a sign of a poorly cut piece, but if that's the case, you need to deal with it.

Fold the fabric edge by about 0.5 cm inwards, so that the frayed end is tucked inside. I recommend pinning thoroughly and well. Once you're done and the frayed edge is folded, stitch it along the edge of the hem. As close to the edge itself as possible.

After stitching the edge, trim the excess fabric as close to the stitch as possible.

Fold again. Again, 0.5 cm or more, and pin.

This time, you're stitching in the track of the first stitch, i.e., at the opposite edge of the hem.

Step 1: first stitch

Step 2: second stitch

How to hem muslin?

The second option for finishing the lengths of muslin pieces is to hem with a strip. I cut the strip 3 to 4 cm wide. I do not cut it as a bias strip. Always straight and as smooth as possible. You must prepare the strip beforehand with an iron and fold it into thirds.

Then, evenly insert the fabric edge into the strip, pin it, and continue in this manner around the entire circumference of the hemmed edge.

I prefer to hem necklines and sleeves. It doesn't look very nice on skirts. That's where the Baby seam proves useful. When hemming, it's important to remember not to cut the strip on the bias. Otherwise, the strip will stretch and deform significantly. You won't be able to do anything about it.

Hemmed muslin edge

What needle to use for sewing muslin?

Muslin is classic cotton. However, the weave is looser than other firm cotton fabrics. Nevertheless, it's perfectly fine to use a needle with the Standard designation for sewing. I personally use Schmetz needles most often.

Such needles are suitable for muslin. You then choose the needle size according to how many layers you will be sewing through. If it's just two delicate and soft layers, you'll usually get by with a 70 - 75 needle. For thicker layers, which might include interfacing or batting, you'll then need a size 80.

Generally, the thicker the material you are sewing, the thicker the needle you need.

A standard needle can then ensure a good-looking stitch even if you have such a lively muslin.

How to finish muslin seams?

For sewing muslin, you can use a multifunction machine with a straight stitch and choose one of the fake overlock stitches for finishing. However, this doesn't look very nice. Therefore, I recommend using a French seam where possible, which hides unsightly seams inside and leaves only a beautiful smooth seam visible on the outside.

However, the French seam sewing method is quite lengthy. Nevertheless, sewing isn't about rushing either.

Another option is to finish the seams on both sides of the fabric with an overlock stitch and then sew with a single needle. However, that is also quite time-consuming.

For sewing inner seams, you can therefore use a common four-thread serger - overlock - and reinforce the most stressed areas with either fusible interfacing or an additional securing stitch.

From experience, however, I know that this is usually not necessary. Just watch the edge at the overlock and trim rather than having the seam come out somewhere and the fabric fray.

Is a five-thread overlock machine necessary?

No, it's not necessary. In fact, a safety stitch is primarily used where only a three-thread or two-thread stitch is being sewn. Then that seam is needed. But otherwise, it's not. And sewing with five threads is nonsense.

What patterns from my offer can you sew from muslin?

Children's poncho for the water Maro

Chloe dresses for girls and children

Julio T-shirt

Where to buy muslin?

Vecicky.sk

Terrymoda.cz

Mojelatky.cz

Do you like my articles? Do you have your own experience? Leave me a comment here

Author: Helena Lachowiczová

constructor, designer, and professional seamstress