Useful Tips For SEWING WITH CORK FABRIC

Some things you need to know about cork fabric

Are you a fabric lover? Have you ever tried to sew bags by yourself? If you like to do DIY sewing, I think you may want to try something new. How about Cork? Yes, we are talking about the same cork as what you usually see in a wine bottle. But hard to imagine, it can even made int fabric form.

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Cork fabric has a similar feel touch as leather or vinyl, and a bonus is that it’s much easier to cut and sew with. It feels like a quality leather because it’s soft, smooth, and touch pro. It’s not hard nor brittle. Cork fabric is ideal for making handmade bags, wallets & purse, craft projects, shoes, upholstery wallpaper or flooring. It can even be used as trim on garments.

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cork bag
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cork wallpaper
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cork floor

Cork fabric is an eco-friendly & sustainable material because it was obtained from the bark of a cork oak tree. The tree does not need to be cut down during harvest season, only the bark was stripped off, and it can regenerate back in about 8-9 years, so it’s miracle tree. This material is an amazing alternative to leather or vinyl because it has great quality including extremely lightweight, stain resistant, durable, antimicrobial, and hypoallergenic.

This high-quality fabric is a natural product made primarily in Spain, Portugal, and France. But now it was spread all over the world, especially in China. We are a fabric manufacturing center, have a perfect supporting system.

Once the cork is harvested from the cork oak it’s stacked on concrete pallets and left to dry for at least six months. After it is fully dried, the cork is boiled and steamed for sterilization, flattening, and elasticity. After importing the cork blocks in China, we will cut them into thin sheets and adhere them to a fabric support backing by non-toxic glue. The fabric support backing was usually a mix of 15.5% Polyester, 29.5% Cotton, and 55% Polyurethane. But we can also use 100% cotton, soy fiber/corn fiber, or recycled TC fabric as backing with different thicknesses. Because of this simple and natural production process, cork fabric retains all of the qualities of “raw” cork!

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Some of our cork fabric is printed with pattern or have metallic flecks, rainbow flecks design to make it looks shiny and interesting use in a variety of items. We can also cut them into different sizes for DIY lovers, from 9’’ square to 54’’ large yards.

So how to sew with this cork?

Luckily, sewing with cork is not so hard, in fact, it’s almost the same as any other fabric. Below are some tools we recommended for you:

Microtex Size 80/12 universal needle, the regular thread will work well on the standard presser foot sewing machine. Microtex needles have a narrow and sharp point, which makes them perfect for cork fabric, most of the things you can make with leather can be made with cork fabric as well.

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The first step will be cutting cork fabric, I suggest you buy a separate rotary cutter and scissors, that will help keep your regularly-used scissors sharp. If you don’t want to leave a permanent hole in your cork fabric, you can use a sewing clip to hold seams together instead of pins. You can also use double-sided basting tape or glue.

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For applying zippers, a peel-and-stick tape for sewing works perfectly and can keep your zipper in the place where you want. Use a removable marker such as leather pen to trace patterns on the wrong side of cork fabric.

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No Edge Finishing needed — Cork fabric is usually not frayed, so you can leave the edge raw. Especially it’s useful when creating straps or loops- just fold and stitch it. If you want it to look better, use leather edge paint to coat over the raw edge.

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That’s all, sewing with cork is just so easy and fun, let’s do it right away.

Make a leather cork bag and put the most versatile minimalist style on your shoulder

If you are more interested in handbags, you will get a unique, fashionable, and environmentally friendly handbag after watching the video below.

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cork leather-colored

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cork leather fabric