HOW TO SEW MINKY FABRIC WITH EASE

                                                                                                                                                  Set Of Five Low-Nap Minky Fabrics

Close your eyes and imagine the most soft and cuddly fabric on earth. You have just imaged a minky fabric. It is a polyester fabric blend that is known by many brand names and is hugely popular. You’ve probably seen minky baby blankets, comforters, pillow covers and even scarfs. It can have a low or high nap, a dimple (puffy dot) pattern or have the look and feel of faux fur.

“Nap” definition: The nap of a fabric is the fuzzy surface.

Minky fabric is famous for two things: its beauty and its difficulty to sew. It can be stretchy and slippery. This combination makes it a challenge to sew. And, unfortunately, it sheds a lot. (In this blog, I’ll share with you a tried and true method to manage shedding.)

I was inspired to write this blog because my grandbabies love the feel of minky quilts and blankets. Over the last three years, I have learned that the most important tips for sewing minky fabric with ease are pins and patience!

My first experience with minky fabric was using it as a fabric backing for my custom quilts. In 2020 I switched from fleece to minky as a backing fabric. Over the past four years, I worked with four types of minky fabric: low nap, low nap dimple, medium nap ridged and high nap faux fur.

In 2022 I used a dimple minky fabric backing along with a traditional cotton fabric quilt top. It was my first experience with minky shedding.

I did not know it at the time, but this minky was the easiest to sew because its low nap enabled it to lay relatively flat when sewing it.

The other advantage to using dimple minky was I could eliminate the need for batting. Dimple minky fabric is substantial enough to be the backing and the batting of the quilt. The other advantage was dimple minky shed the least in comparison to other minky fabrics.

I made a few flannel blankets made with Christmas-themed printed flannel tops and a dimple minky fabric backing. These warm and snuggly blankets were instant hits during a very cold winter.

Next, I tried a ridged minky fabric backing. I assumed that sewing the ridged raw edge of the minky fabric to the flat raw edge of the flannel fabric would be a big problem. But I was wrong.

The dip in the ridge created a straight, flat edge that I used to cut and sew the fabric. Using this edge I was able to sew a flat minky raw edge to a flat flannel raw edge.

Okay, I know what you're thinking; what about the other two raw edges on the sides that are opposite the ridges? Sewing the opposite sides was not a problem because one edge of each corner was already sewn and thus perfectly aligned. This allowed me to stay focused on keeping the raw edges aligned as they approached the needle. (Have you ever sewn a beautiful seam, reached the corner and one raw fabric edge is longer than the order? That’s what I call an unaligned corner.)

Tip: You can keep minky fabric aligned with vertical and horizontal pinning. The higher the nap the more pins you should use. For example: Faux Fur “Minky” will require the most pins. (Detailed information about this pinning technique will be covered further down in the blog)

This month, I took on the ultimate challenge and created faux fur minky blankets for my grandbabies’ birthdays. With a generous amount of pins and an equal measure of patience, the challenge of sewing this difficult fabric was conquered.

If you are ready to use minky fabric in your next project, then this blog is for you. Let’s conquer “Minky” fabric together. All you’ll really need are the right pins, patience and slow sewing.

You will need lots of long, thin pins to tame the stretchy and slippery “minky” fabric. I found that Madam Sew long flower pins are perfect for the task because they help you manage the fabric in four key ways:

• They are very sharp. This enables them to easily pierce the thick minky fabric.
• They have a long shaft. At 1.75-inches long, you’ll need fewer pins to traverse the length of any raw edge.
• They have a head that is large and flat. Long flower pins are bigger than round head pins and thus easier for you to grab.
• Their flat head avoids the problem of the pins getting snagged within the walking foot sole too.

Tip: If you are sewing slowly, then you won’t need to remove the vertical long flower pins because the left walking foot sole can travel over them without any problems. These vertical pins are positioned far away from the quarter-inch seam allowance and will not come in contact with the needle.

The four steps to achieve easy sewing with minky are:

• Step 1: Control the Shedding.
• Step 2: Change The Sewing Machine Settings.
• Step 3: Use Vertical, Horizontal And Diagonal Pinning.
• Step 4: Use A Nontraditional Sewing Sequence.

Before you create your first minky project, test these steps on a practice minky four-patch block.) I recommend cutting the minky fabric into four, 6-inch squares.

Be prepared for this project. See “Supplies”, “Fabric” and “Getting Ready To Sew”.

These are the tools and supplies that I used to sew minky fabric with ease.

• A Walking Foot
• Coordinating Polyester Thread
• 90/14 Stretch Sewing Machine Needle
• Sticky tape lint brush
• Thread Snips
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Mat
• 6-inch square ruler
• Long Flower Pins

Cut (four) 6-inch squares of low nap minky fabric from two different colors.

Tip: Check the nap of the fabric. Rub your finger against the nap of the fabric. You want the nap to lay in the same direction for better wear and appearance.

Use your favorite way to prep for a new project or try my proven, stress-free method. See “Getting Ready To Quilt-The Ultimate Checklist”.

After you’ve cut your minky fabric into 6-inch squares there will be considerable shedding. You can clean up the shedding with a sticky tape lint brush but the shedding will continue. You can control minky shedding. All you’ll need is a dryer, a washcloth, and the ability to clean the dryer lint trap.

A few cycles in the dryer will greatly eliminate the shedding. Ask me how I know this.

• Grab a washcloth and the squares of minky fabric.
• Clean the lint trap of the dryer.
• Place a wet washcloth and the pieces of minky fabric into the dryer.
• Run the dryer at no heat for 3 minutes. Clean the lint trap.
• Repeat drying and cleaning the lint trap until shedding stops.

The right machine setup makes sewing with minky easy. A few simple changes to your sewing machine settings will enable you to feed minky fabric evenly under the needle.

Here's the machine setup that you’ll need:

• Walking Foot presser foot with center marking foot (Align the fabric along the far right sole of the walking foot. Use this alignment when sewing two squares of minky fabric together.)
• Straight Needle Plate. This will prevent fabric from being sucked down into the feed dogs.
• Stitch Pattern: Straight Stitch
• Needle Plate: Straight Stitch
• Stitch Length: 3.5 (This longer stitch width will avoid popped stitches during usage.)
• Stitch Width: 0.0 (This is the stitch width for all straight stitches.)
• Presser Foot Pressure: 50 (This lower pressure makes it easier for the walking foot to glide along the “minky’s” nap)
• Needle: 90/14 Stretch Needle (This needle is strong enough to withstand thick fabrics and it works well with stretch fabrics.)
• Needle and Bobbin Thread: Polyester thread (This thread can stretch with the minky fabric during usage.)
• Feed Dogs: Up (This will enable the feed dogs to work with the walking foot feed dogs to evenly feed the minky fabric as you sew it.)

As mentioned before, minky is stretchy and slippery to sew. Stabilize it with vertical and horizontal pinning. And maximize control of minky fabric by sewing half of the raw edge at a time.

• Fold the minky fabric in half to find the midpoint of the raw edge.
• Mark the midpoint with a vertical flower head pin. (To distinguish this midpoint pin from the other pins, mark it with a pen or pencil.)

• Align one corner of the raw edge so that the corner is square and the fabrics are evenly aligned.
• Repeat this on the other corner. (Secure this alignment by pinning vertically, horizontally and diagonally.)
• The vertical, horizontal and diagonal pinning will anchor the corners, which will prevent uneven end seams caused by fabric stretching or bunching.

• Pin the rest of the raw edge vertically and horizontally. Use lots of pins, the pins should be about a half-inch apart.

Minky fabric can still get out of alignment despite the best vertical and horizontal pinning. To best control fabric alignment sew half the seam at a time. This nontraditional way of sewing might seem strange, but it works. Sew slowly to allow the material to feed evenly under the walking foot sole and its feed dogs.

• Slowly sew from the midpoint of the seam down to the corner.

Remove the pins as you reach them. (Do not sew over pins to avoid major problems and costly sewing machine repairs. Broken needle shards inside the inaccessible parts of your machine or a jammed mechanism can throw the shuttle hook timing off.)

Definition: Shuttle Hook Timing is essential to enabling a sewing machine to sew stitches. It ensures that the shuttle hook is at the top of the bobbin at the precise time that the needle has entered the top of the bobbin area. This meeting of the needle and hook allows the shuttle hook to catch the needle thread as the hook makes its counterclockwise rotation to the top of the bobbin.

As the shuttle hook continues its counterclockwise rotation it will catch the bobbin thread. The needle and bobbin thread will form a loop.

Finally, the open part of the shuttle hook enables the loop to be released so that it can form a stitch on the fabric.

• After you have sewn half of the raw edge, flip it over and slowly sew the other half of the raw edge from the midpoint to the corner.

You’ve made sewing minky fabric look easy by applying four steps: controlled shedding, calibrating the sewing machine settings, using strategic vertical, horizontal, and diagonal pinning, and applying a nontraditional sewing sequence.

I hope that you’re inspired to use minky in your next project. Try it with these wonderful Madam Sew projects:

• The Sausage Dog Pillow
• How to Make a Tie Blanket
• Learn How To Make This Large Quilted Tote

May your quilting always bring you joy!

Ernie Grant
Guest Blogger For Madam Sew

Ernestine “Ernie” Grant is an avid quilter with over 20 years experience and is the owner of the custom baby quilt business www.kalibabyquilts.com. As an African American living in Harlem, NY her view of quilting is shaped by her heritage and the elders who taught her–Quilting is not just thread, fabric and stitches. It is art, it is love, it is community