Hello everyone, my name is Nicoletta and I am honored to be one of this year’s Chalk and Notch contributors. You can find me on Instagram (@dinuvoledicuori) and my website (www.dinuvoledicuori.com). I share there my makes and those from my girls, to whom I teach sewing!

I have decided to add a little spice to the Crew Short/Trousers pattern and sew it in faux leather, cause why not, right?

Black faux leather and various sewing tools on a green cutting mat.

How to Prepare and Sew Faux Leather: What You Need

  • Sewing clips (mine are in metal, but feel free to use any sort of clip you have)
  • Cutting mat
  • Rotary cutter
  • Leather needles
  • Pattern weights
  • Chalk
  • Teflon presser foot
  • Ruler
  • Aqua glue marker

Tips for Sewing with Faux Leather

To cut faux leather smoothly place it on your cutting mat and, instead of using pins, place pattern weights on top of it: they will help you to hold the fabric down in place. Feel free to place the pattern pieces on the fabric even if you do have not enough pattern weights: this will help you visually see how much fabric you are using and if you are doing a correct pattern placement.

paper pattern pieces are laid out on black faux leather with pattern weights laying on top

Once you have cut all the pieces, clip them together, placing them right side together, aligning them carefully.

paper pattern pieces are clipped to faux leather.

Now place the clips on the fabric, leaving the pattern on top of it, fold the paper pattern until you find the spot you need to mark on the wrong side of the fabric, and mark it with your chalk.

When I sew faux leather, I tend to create very small notches with my scissor: faux leather does not forgive mistakes scissors make as the woven fabric does, so pay extra attention!

A ruler and clips lay on a faux leather pattern piece

Use your ruler to create the straight lines you need to sew your hip dart. Repeat this step for all the darts and pleats of the Crew short/trousers.

A ruler and clips lay on a faux leather pattern piece

The belt loops being so small, need a little help from the aqua glue marker.

A ruler, strip of faux leather, and chalk marker lay on white background.

I have marked them on the wrong side with two lines that will help me folding them the correct way, as I will not use the serger with the faux leather. I have applied a light coat of aqua glue and fold them on top of each other. Once folded I have sewn first the part that closes the loop, then the other part.

Two thin belt loops of faux leather are shown.

When assembling the faux leather pieces to sew them together, remember not to use any regular pins but keep on using your clips! Pins are enemies of leather and faux leather because they leave holes in the structure and it will not be able to close them.

Now hop to your sewing machine where the Teflon presser foot is on and happy sewing!