Tips for cutting Primaloft (etc) ?

[Jacob D]

Hi all. Does anyone have tips or suggestions on ways to “neatly” trim synthetic insulation, such as Primaloft? I’m trying to trim along a pattern (this is for a garment that I would like to produce a few of)

I have a cutting mat and rotary trimmer. The results are “ok” if not somewhat frustrating. One of the issues is, the blade just doesn’t consistently cut cleanly through the material, leaving little bits connected here and there – I have tried a new blade and seem to have the same problem, this could be user error but I think it’s more related to the material sliding/moving around a little as I attempt to cut it.

The other issue is, fibers get pushed into the cuts of the self-healing mat and trapped there. This requires a lot of painstaking hand cleaning after trimming a piece. Maybe there’s no way around this and I’ll just end up wrecking a cutting mat for the project.

I’m sort of an amateur when it comes to anything sewing-related so I accept that I am probably doing all kinds of things wrong. This is a project that I started a year ago and made some nice prototypes that I’d like to refine this year to distribute to a handful of friends and I need to up my skill level and efficiency. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[Roger Caffin]

Have you thought of using a good pair of scissors?

Cheers

[Jerry Adams]

“I’m sort of an amateur when it comes to anything sewing-related so I accept that I am probably doing all kinds of things wrong. This is a project that I started a year ago”

same here : )

For the last thing I made, I marked the finished edges on the inside shell fabric.  Then I placed outside shell fabric/primaloft/inside shell fabric making sure they were bigger than the finished edge.  The outside shell fabric needs to be at least 1 inch bigger.  Did maybe a dozen hand stitches through all three layers, like on the corners.  You can either do it inside or outside the finished edge depending on whether you want the hand stitches to show in the finished garment.  Then sew all the way around the perimeter about 1/4 inch inside the finished edge.  Then cut the primaloft and inside fabric along the finished edge.  Cut the outside fabric 1 inch wider than the finished edge.  Fold over the outside fabric twice and sew (you could call that a hem I guess) to hide all the unfinished edges.

One thing I hate about cutting the primaloft, then sewing, is it changes shape and stretches.

[Jerry Adams]

[Jacob D]

Thanks guys.

I’m not using scissors, partially for the same reason, also because I want to put a template down on a flat surface and cut around its shape, which has several curves, angles, and details to follow. Since the insulation wants to stretch a little and not hold its shape very well, it makes doing this accurately somewhat difficult unless everything is secure on a flat surface.

Jerry, I appreciate the sewing tips. I resorted to doing something similar; I have two templates, one for the shell material, and one for the insulation which takes into account the extra material necessary.

[Paul McLaughlin]

You can hot cut it with a soldering iron and sharp tip, but you need serious ventilation and a good respirator to deal with the fumes, as well as a template that can handle the heat (masonite does the deed), and apprpriate cutting surface.

But I just lay my stiff paper template on top of the insulation and cut around it with scissors. Small pieces I just hold down while cutting; larger ones get weighted with a few books so they stay in place.

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