Has anyone ever tried sewing with Astroturf?

Question

How did it work out? What needle did you use? I would like to make a dress out of it, and I'm a little concerned it won't work at all. Do I need some sort of industrial machine?

Answer 1

NOOOOO!!!!! DON'T PUT ASTROTURF THROUGH YOUR SEWING MACHINE!!! YOU WILL KILL IT!!

Ok, now I have my initial reaction out of my system. AstroTurf is very bad for your sewing machine, no matter what kind of needle you use. To make a dress from AstroTurf, cut a very simple pattern (without too many pieces)and use heavyduty duct tape on the back side to hold it together. You can also use heavy cloth (like canvas) and Tacky Glue. Use lots of glue, naturally, and let it dry thoroughly. To use canvas and glue, you cut the canvas like really wide tape -- about 3" to 4" wide -- and cover one side of it thickly in glue. I'd recommend Aleene's Tacky Glue because it stays very slightly flexible after it's dried so it won't crack and fall apart when you move.

...I sure hope you mean this for a costume for Halloween or something...

Answer 2

If you really want to sew the item together, use upholstery thread and an upholstery needle, or a needle that is often used for leather. This is a curved needle that can be found in a fabric store. Of course this has to be done by hand, but it goes quite fast. Make sure you only stitch the backing, and not the grass section. You don't want the seams to be too prominent......Don't use a machine.

Answer 3

Yes, People have tryed with mild sucess to sew astro turf.
This was featured in Ready made magazine and Craftster.org. surf the web for these sites. My advice would be only use a titanum needle in the machine and clean out the sewing machine alot during the sewing process. Don't expect it to be easy going. Don't use an expencive machine in case it messes up. I would use a thrift store machine for this projcet.