How to Join Two Materials Together

Last Updated: August 31, 2019

Joining two materials is an easy project to do with your sewing machine. Join a fabric to your sleeve, pants or shorts to extend its length or for decorative purposes.

Steps

1
Wash and iron the fabrics before sewing them together.
2
Stack the fabrics

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3
Pin or baste the fabrics together. With most sewing projects, the actual time sewing is very little, and it is the preparation of the materials before sewing that takes time. When working with a supple fabric(s), pin the fabrics together before hand basting them. Hand baste for more precise sewing. Basting with just pins is fast, but is cumbersome to work with all those pins when doing the permanent machine stitch.
4
Using a basic stitch, sew the fabrics together and remove the pins or basting.
5
Hang the two ends of the fabric down. In the drawing, the project is extending the length to a pants. Hang the fabric ends down and not up. Iron it.
6
Pin or baste the two ends of the fabric to the smaller piece of fabric that you are using to extend the length.
7
Do a second basic stitch with as much accuracy as possible because this stitch will be visible. Make this stitch parallel to the other line and with an equal distance between the stitches. Enlist a helper to hold the material in this crucial phase of sewing.
8
Remove the baste or pins and trim the excess fabric at least 1/4" or 1/3" away from the stitches.

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Community Q&A

Question

How do I attach fabric together without sewing?

Killerkitana

Community Answer

Hot glue as well as super glue and fabric glue are alternatives to sewing.
Question

How can I sew a wax material dress with lace?

T. Chinsen

Top Answerer

Waxy material does not feed well on a sewing machine. This can be adjusted by sandwiching the fabric between strips of paper. This creates a grip surface for the feeder feet to grab. Make sure to pin it in place so that it does not move during stitching. Tear off the paper after stitching.