 Hi you guys, Lindsay here. Welcome back to my channel Inside the Hymn. Well it is October which means Halloween is right around the corner and I know a lot of us are going to be whipping up some costumes whether it is a full on head to toe look or just something you know to sprinkle in a little bit of the Halloween spirit here and there. So I thought I would talk to you guys today about Halloween themed fabrics and how to work with them for the best results. I ran over to Joanne and I grabbed a bunch of really fun Halloween fabrics in all kinds of different substrates. Some are sheer, some brocade, some velvet, some metallic and I grabbed all of that, brought it back here to my studio and I'm going to show you today just the best ways to sew it, what needles you need to be using, how you should be finishing the seams if you should be finishing them at all, and then also how you are going to be pressing these fabrics to ensure your seams get super super flat but not burn or melt. So before we get started I did want to talk to you about some of the things that you will need if you're going to be working with Halloween themed fabric. First of all you're going to need a collection of needles, you should probably have a collection of needles anyways if you're a garment sewing, but the needles that you will need for these various types of fabrics can vary quite a lot depending on what the fabric is made of and how thick or heavyweight it is. Once you get over to your ironing board that's when things can get super super tricky. I am using my Aliso Pro iron which has a lot of really great settings for these kind of finicky, temperamental fabrics. There's a synthetic setting which is great for fabrics like these and then there's also a slightly hotter but still not crazy wool and silk setting. I'll be using those mostly and then it also has four different settings for your steam so that gives you a lot of options and a lot of control depending on how much steam you want to come out if any at all. I also have my really ratty gross uh pressing cloth. This one is just a tea towel that I have used for years and years and years. It's thin, it's lightweight, but and 100 cotton so it is going to allow the heat and steam if we're using it to get through but not apply direct heat to the fabric. And then you also need a tailor's clapper. This is like raw wood and the wood absorbs any steam that you're using and the wood kind of insulates the heat so it sucks out the steam, presses in the heat which creates a really really nice crisp seam whenever you are pressing. So we're going to go through these one by one and I am going to show you the best ways to work with each of them. First up let's talk about this super cute velvet with silver glitter spider and web design. It's 94% polyester and 6% spandex so not that different from some of the knit fabrics you might have used for garment sewing. To set up your sewing machine you'll need polyester thread and a ball point jersey or stretch needle in size 80. The fabric doesn't fray so don't worry about finishing your seams. It also isn't super slippery so you can use regular straight pins to hold the seam allowances together. You want to sew with a slightly longer straight stitch or a stretch stitch to make sure you maintain the stretch quality of the fabric in your garment. Finally when you get to your ironing board set your iron to the wool silk setting and a light steam. Fun fact glitter is made from glass metal and plastic so it could possibly melt into the fibers or onto your iron. So use a pressing cloth on the wrong side only and apply gentle pressure with the tailor's ham to set the heat. Next up is this organza with flocked eyes. The base organza layer is 100% polyester and the flocking is 100% nylon. To set up your sewing machine you'll need polyester thread and a small size 70 micro-tex or sharp needle. These needles are super sharp and will break through the most delicate of fabrics with ease. This fabric is sheer and also tends to fray so I recommend finishing your seams with a french seam. It is super slippery so be sure to use something like Wonder Clips to hold the seam allowances together. You want to sew with a slightly shorter straight stitch. Finally when you get to your ironing board set your iron to the wool silk setting and turn the steam function completely off. You don't need a pressing cloth but you do want to move quickly and not let your iron rest on any part of the fabric for too long. Apply gentle pressure with the tailor's ham and you are good to go. Okay now we have this crushed lame. It is 60% polyester and 40% nylon. To set up your sewing machine you'll need polyester thread and a small size 70 micro-tex or sharp needle. If you're going to be doing any top stitching metallic thread looks best as the polyester can seem dull against the shiny fabric. This fabric tends to fray but it isn't sheer so I recommend finishing your seams with a serger or zigzag stitch. It is fairly shifty so be sure to use something like Wonder Clips to hold the seam allowances together. You can keep your stitch length at its normal setting and sew straight stitches. Finally when you get to your ironing board set your iron to the synthetic heat setting. This lame is crushed and you don't want to press out any of that detail. Turn the steam function off and I like to warm up the wrong side of the fabric with direct heat first moving quickly. Then I'll turn the fabric to the right side lay down the pressing cloth turn up the heat a little and apply longer moments of heat. Then just apply gentle pressure with the tailor's ham. Next let's talk about this metallic confetti dot. The fabric is 83% nylon and 17% metallic and I'm pretty sure the dots are plastic even though the product description doesn't say so. To set up your sewing machine you'll need a micro-tex or sharp needle in size 70. Plan to go through a couple of them as every time it has to puncture a dot the needle will wear down. This fabric does not fray so don't worry about finishing your seams. While it is super slinky it is not very slippery so you can use regular straight pins to hold everything together. You can also keep your stitch length at its normal setting and sew straight stitches. Finally when you get to your ironing board you need to use extreme caution. This fabric is thin made mostly of nylon and includes metal which can get hot very quickly. So set your iron to the synthetics heat setting turn off the steam lay down a pressing cloth and move very very quickly. I applied a couple seconds of heat to both sides of the fabric and let the tailor's ham do the rest of the work. Finally we have this gorgeous brocade. This fabric is 83% polyester and 17% metallic. Brocade is a very sturdy fabric with a ton of structure so you can use a universal needle in size 80 or 90 depending on the weight of the fabric and polyester thread. This fabric frays like you wouldn't believe so I would surge all the raw edges in a single layer before ever trying to sew anything together. Don't forget to use the size 80 or 90 needles in the surge or two. Then when you get to sewing the layers together you can use straight pens in a normal length straight stitch. Finally when you get to your ironing board you'll want to warm up the fibers like we did with the lame with some subtle direct heat using the synthetic heat setting. Then lay down the pressing cloth and apply indirect heat using the wool silk setting. A couple of seconds with the tailor's ham and your seams are flat. So there you have it. I hope you learned a little bit about how to work with some of these specialty fabrics that we tend to use around Halloween. The people at Aliso are super super generous and have given all of my viewers a coupon code. I'll have it listed right here. So if you're interested in getting the Aliso Pro or any of the irons that they offer to make your ironing and pressing experience a little bit better, a little bit smarter, check the description box below where you can find a direct link and more information about the coupon code. But I am going to get to making my very own Halloween costume using one of these fabrics. I'm not going to tell you which one it is yet, but stay tuned for that. If you're not subscribed already, go ahead and do so. I have a lot of really fun content coming your way, but that is going to do it for me today. I will see you all very soon. Bye.