Sewing Sequins by Machine

If you don’t have the time or patience to hand sew sequins, you can purchase sequin trims and learn sewing sequins by machine. With the right tools, it is easy to learn how to sew sequin trim quickly and easily with your regular sewing machine.

Sequin trim has soft sequins that are designed to be sewn through on your machine. It will, however, dull your machine needles quickly so replace them after you have finished your project.

What you will need

Sequin trim – These come in different sequin sizes and colors. Most sequin trim does not stetch but you can also purchase stretch trim best suited if you are attaching it to leotards or other stretch garments.
Strong sharp, machine needles. Try a size 14 or 16 universal needles
Matching thread.

As always there is more than one method you can use for sewing sequins by machine – you can sew the sequins with a straight or zig-zag stitch.

METHOD 1: How to Sew Sequin Trim with a Straight Stitch

Pin or glue the trim in place.

Place the trim under your foot with the raised edges facing you and right side up. This will make it much easier to sew as the edges won’t get caught as you sew along.

Straight stitch through the center of the sequins. This will make holes through the sequins so make sure you are stitching straight!

Use a fairly long stitch length to minimize the perforations through your trim. Try a length of 3.0 and see how it looks. If you are using a small sequin, you may be able to get the stitch to pierce through the center of each sequin, making it almost invisible.

METHOD 2: How to Sew Sequin Trim with a Zig-Zag Stitch

If you have a narrow piece of sequin trim you may be able to zig-zag over it without piercing the trim.

Your stitch width will depend on the width of the sequins. You want the stitches to pierce the fabric on either side of the trim. I quite like the look of this but you do need to sew very accurately. The added thread can also reduce the shine of the sequins so just test a little piece of trim first to choose the best method.

If you are really going for a perfect finish you could use the hand wheel to accurately do each stitch. Personally, I think that defeats the purpose of using your machine as it slows you down considerably. If you needed an absolutely perfect looking stitch you might be better off going back to hand stitching individual sequins instead of sewing sequins by machine.

TRY IT ON THESE PATTERNS – Sequins are perfect for embellishing your favorite leotard.