Discover how sewing organza, a beautiful and delicate fabric, can elevate your sewing projects. These simple tips make handling this fine material easier.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Active Time20 minutesmins
Total Time30 minutesmins
Course: Sewing
Cuisine: International
Keyword: how to sew organza, sewing organza, sewing with organza
There's no need to pre-wash organza as it will soften it. Unless of course you need it soft or to remove dust. If you need to wash the fabric before you start sewing as organza usually shrinks quite a bit. I would recommend using the delicate cycle on your washing machine and drying it on low heat or line drying to avoid any further shrinkage.
Do press organza if needed. Adjust the pressing iron temperature accordingly. I used the lowest setting for my pressing iron. Use a dry iron for pressing instead of steam, I find steam a real trouble maker when it comes to organza and other sheer fabrics. Also using a damp ironing cloth is quite useful, especially if your fabric has difficult wrinkles.
Cutting organza fabric
When cutting organza, it is important to use sharp shears and cut cleanly without dragging the fabric. If you must use pins, use very fine, sharp pins and place them close together. You can also try using small pieces of masking tape or sewing clips to hold the organza in place while cutting. Since it's quite difficult to get a clean cut on sheer, slippery fabrics such as organza, use these tips for keeping the fabric still while cutting.
Using a large, straight surface, place your organza fabric over a large piece of flannel fabric, muslin or a blanket before pressing (I was so lucky that my mom made me some bed sheets out of flannel for winter time! perfect size for my current needs). Lay it out straight and square up with this method and press using the method above. If unsure, place a piece of cotton cloth on top of your fabric before pressing. Then place a long non slippery ruler as close to the area where you'll do the cut but leaving enough space to cut without having to pull the fabric. Place lots of fabric or pattern weights over the ruler then measure and mark with a fabric marker (make sure it's a good quality one and that it comes off easily). You can also tape the opposite side of the organza to the working surface before cutting to make it even more stable and less slippery. Cut using very sharp sheers since any drag will distort the fabric.
Pinning the fabric won't get you too far and can also damage the fabric but if you must use pins throughout your sewing project, use very fine, sharp pins and place them closer together. Also here's a little pinning trick that is valid for all sheer fabrics but particularly useful for organza which is probably the most difficult to measure, cut and sew: add small pieces of scrap fabric or paper to the spots where you need to add the pins. This way the pins will stay put.
Tips for sewing organza
Sewing organza requires a very sharp, small size needle (a 70/10 Microtex needle would normally do the trick but if you can still hear the needle pushing through the fabric, switch to an even smaller needle).
Use regular weight cotton thread.
Adjust presser foot tension as indicated in this tutorial.
Use a straight stitch setting, smaller than you would normally use in a regular project.
Before staring a larger project, test on a piece of fabric that all your settings, needle and thread are correct for your project.
Organza might pucker while sewing so a good idea would be to hold the fabric in front and behind the presser foot while sewing. It makes sewing a little harder so sew slow.
Do not backstitch as it will show and also distort the fabric; sheer fabrics get caught in the feed dogs easily when a backstitch is used. A piece of tissue paper placed at the start and end of a seam is helpful for preventing puckering.
How to finish seams and hems
To finish hems and seams in organza, make them as narrow and tidy as possible. A narrow hem is great, using either a serger, my preferred method here or a rolled hem. Hand stitching the hem is also a possibility but it will take a very long time for larger projects.
A nice method for finishing seams is sewing a straight stitch seam, and then a narrow zig zag seam right next to it. Finish by trimming the fabric as close to the zig zag stitch as possible, using care not to cut through the stitch.
Another great way to finish seams is a French seam.
Do the hem as a last step after allowing the project to hang for a few hours; this helps the fabric to stretch out and ensures an even hem.
If you need to add some seam stiffness, use thin interfacing to the edge of the seam before sewing.