How to Secure Laminated Cotton or Oilcloth for Stitching

Laminated cotton and oil cloth are great to use on projects you want to be fairly water resistant or easy to clean, like lunch bags, beach bags, or rain coats. However, they can be tricky to stitch with if you don’t want to use pins. Stacy Grissom shows you different ways to secure your fabric without pins, and even has different methods depending on how many layers of fabric you are stitching through. Using these methods rather than pins will eliminate the small holes pins can create in the fabric that unlike pins in regular cotton could become permanent.

If you plan to make a rain coat or other water resistant project, not using pins is just the first step in keeping the water out. Just like pins can create small permanent holes in your fabric, the needle can do the same thing when stitching. To eliminate water leakage at seams you will need to apply a seam sealant to the wrong side of your seams when finished. Seam sealant is a great way to make your seams water resistant and not change the overall look and feel of the fabric. If you are making a project that’s a little more rugged and you don’t necessarily need the wrong side of the seams to be smooth, another more resilient option is vinyl cement.