Sometimes you might need to stitch cloth onto a piece of foam or foam onto a piece of fabric. In particular, flexible foam works well as a structural component for bags and as a protective covering for electronics.
Foam is an excellent choice since it provides a sturdy base without burdening cloth with additional weight. Can I therefore stitch foam? Indeed! It’s possible to sew foam, and for your project, I suggest using flexible foam. It is often slightly firmer than ordinary foam and measures about 5 mm thick. For a sewing endeavor, this kind of foam will work the best.
The covering on both sides of flexible foam is typically akin to fabric. The netting is the same on both sides of flexible foam, but it will be finer on one side of generic foam than the other. Using standard fabric sewing scissors, cutting this flexible foam is also quite simple. This post covers everything from how to properly sew foam to much more! Continue reading.
How Do You Sew Foam?
You may need to stitch foam for a few reasons. Sometimes your adorable puppy will attack a pillow and the core will need to be sewn back together. Perhaps all you want to do with your sewing machine is put together a foam craft.
Fortunately, sewing foam is really simple and doesn’t require much different techniques than sewing fabric. Although foam is a rather solid substance, it may be sewn through with the correct kind of needle. For foam, a 70/10 or 110/18 needle is advised due to its strength, thickness, and sharpness.
The foam pieces must be arranged as evenly as possible on top of one another before sewing. Put two wax paper pieces on each of the foam’s two sides. By doing this, the foam will be shielded from tearing and being caught.
To make the foam fit beneath the pressure foot more readily, you might need to make certain adjustments. Before beginning, you can lift the pressure foot to the necessary height, just make sure there’s enough space underneath for the foam.
Take great care when sewing to prevent harm to the needle or the foam. Once the stitching is finished, carefully rip the wax paper away from the seam. Once the extra foam has been cut off, your project is complete.
How Do You Sew Foam into Fabric?
Similar to stitching simply foam, sewing flexible foam into cloth is a pretty simple operation. During the sewing process, the foam often becomes compressed, and the stitch helps to maintain that compression. It’s a very easy technique, like stitching fabric together.
Your sewing machine, the foam you plan to use, paperclips, wax paper cut into 12-inch sections, a selection of needles, your preferred thread, and a pair of scissors are required. You must be very careful since the foam can break your needle if you are not.
The fabric pieces you want to sew onto the fabric must first be fastened to it with paperclips. Paperclips are a safer and more secure option than pins or needles, therefore you should use them instead.
You should place the foam on the side of the cloth that you want facing out in order to arrange it correctly. Put another way, position the side of the cloth that you wish to view facing you rather than the foam.
You will need to get the wax paper after you have secured the fabric and prepared the foam. Put the wax paper under and on top of the item you are stitching. It’s crucial to stitch extremely slowly. The wax paper at the bottom will keep the foam from catching and becoming stuck.
Also Read: Can You Sew on a Velcro Patch?
On foam, there are two types of stitches you can use. Both straight and zigzag stitches are options. You should cut the seam slightly smaller than what you desire for the project if you plan to utilize a straight stitch. For instance, stitch at 3/4-inch if you want a 1-inch seam.
You should adjust the stitch to have a large width and a little length if you wish to utilize a zigzag stitch. The foam in the seam will flatten with a wider width. Before deciding which stitch to use, you can try which one will work better for you and your project.
You may need to raise the pressure foot in order for the foam to feed through the sewing machine more easily. If the foam is thicker than half an inch, cut off some cardboard from a cereal box to help push the foam down on both sides of the stitch.
Once the sewing is finished, take the cloth out of the machine and gently pull the wax paper from the seam. Extra care is required to keep the stitches from falling loose.
Can You Sew Foam Sheets?
Foam sheets are a good option for sewing, and you can sew them. Foam sheets come in an assortment of hues, dimensions, and densities. Purchasing this material is reasonably priced, and it is even available for large purchases.
The variety of foam sheets makes them easy to work with. They are therefore the ideal choice to be sewed together. They can be punched, stamped, and cut into pieces. Sewing foam sheets together is as simple as sewing cloth.
Using foam sheets for a project makes it simple to draw a border for your design using chalk on the sheet. Once the foam sheets are cut out, the chalk may be removed from them with ease. Your sewing will be easier as a result of not requiring a pattern or a permanent marker.
You can use it for embroidery as well as stitching foam sheets together. This is a fantastic method for giving your foam background project dimension. For needlework, a very tiny needle is usually best, but if you want the foam to tear like a perforation, you can use larger needles.
Final Thoughts
It is possible and rather easy to sew foam. Although foam is fairly thick, it essentially adheres to the same guidelines as sewing. You can start using your sewing machine as soon as you are stitching two pieces of foam together. You should be good as long as you use the correct needle.
When sewing foam to fabric, you must position the side of the fabric that you want to keep hidden on the foam and the side that you want to reveal facing the other way. The pressure foot will typically need to be raised in order for the foam to fit properly underneath.
When sewing foam, there are various stitches you may use. The best approach to choose which stitch to use is to experiment and see which one you like most. In order to keep the foam from getting trapped and adhering to the machine, you will also need to apply some wax paper on each side.