How to Sew With Corduroy

While corduroy never really disappeared from the fashion world, this textured fabric is seeing quite a bit of resurgence lately. Whether it’s because of the cool, comforting texture or the fact that it can be sewn up into pretty much any garment, there’s just something about corduroy that appeals to people. Luckily, sewing with corduroy is fairly simple, as long as you keep in mind that it does produce a lot of lint.

For this reason, if you’re going to be sewing with corduroy fabric, make sure to use a lint roller or clothes brush every time before and after you cut your fabric. Lint can really slow you down and also leave your project with an unprofessional finish. Additionally, it’s a good idea to always work with the grain/nap of your fabric, which means working in the direction that the ridges run, not against them. This will prevent the ridges from becoming worn or even broken off.

Generally, corduroy is made from cotton, although you may see it made from wool and blends of different fibers like polyester-cotton or cotton-elastane for added stretchiness. Once the fibers are chosen, they are carded, a process that separates and aligns the individual threads so they will weave together more evenly. Then the yarns are woven into a corduroy fabric, which can then be dyed in any number of colors.

The ridges or ‘cords’ of the fabric are created during the weaving process when one yarn is used as the warp and another for the weft. The warp yarns may be a single color or any number of colors, while the weft is normally just the chief value of cotton, or for added strength and flexibility, a blend with polyester.

Once the ridges are formed, the fabric is then cut to the desired length and width. For the best results, when cutting your corduroy, try to avoid using too large of a cut at one time as it can be difficult to handle. Additionally, if you’re doing the cutting yourself, you can use a rotary cutter instead of scissors to get a more accurate and cleaner cut. The final result is a durable and soft fabric that’s perfect for autumn and winter outerwear, skirts, dresses, and even shoes and hats. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a world without corduroy!

As a fashionable clothing material, it went on to become the uniform of lower-working class men in towns throughout Europe before making its way into the closets of hippies and beatniks in the twentieth century. Now, it’s a staple for any well-dressed person’s wardrobe.