How to Serge or do a Rolled Hem with Sequin Chiffon OR How to Remove Glued Sequin

Okay, my job was to sew a dress with this lovely light fabrics... I went to the store and found this gorgeous navy chiffon with little silver metallic sequin. They were glued on. I loved it! I'd never used the stuff before, but how hard could it be? The pattern suggested using a very tiny needle for the lightweight fabrics such as chiffon, so I picked up a pack of 60/8 universal needles. I was ready...

Just to make sure my settings were correct, I picked up scraps of this sequined chiffon and started practicing my rolled hem (I don't work with chiffon on even a yearly basis... so practice is a must.). Sure enough, once that nice and tiny needle hit a sequin, my thread broke. I tried again and got the same result (definition of insanity).

Then I turned to the internet for help. I googled and searched and googled. I couldn't find anything to really help. I tried picking them off and darned things wouldn't budge. I had a deadline. I had to finish this dress. I needed a solution fast. So, I ran to the store for non-sequined chiffon. Uh-oh, they didn't have any plain navy chiffon in-stock. Crap. I've got to make this work. So I asked some sewing friends... one suggestion was to use Goo Gone. At this point, I'll try anything. I knew it was a blend of oils, so I COULD get that off the fabric if I had to. I didn't think it would eat the fabric like some more abrasive cleaners and solvents.

To my utter surprise, those suckers peeled right off! It was SO EASY! YAY!!! So I took my 2 big circles for skirt layers and I turned on the TV and grabbed a beer and dabbed and plucked and dabbed and plucked until the hemlines were clear! I gave myself at least half and inch or more just to be safe. Then I brilliantly (patting myself on the back for this one) remembered that the skirts would have to be attached to the bodice, so I better remove the sequins up at the top as well or I'd be crying again when I went to attach them. In all, I spent less than an hour sitting there removing all those little sequin (it was a LOT). Then I quickly set up my serger and finished those hemlines. Since I had so little luck finding things when I searched online, I decided to put this out there for others who land in my position! Here are the steps...

What you'll need:

• cotton swabs or your preferred method for applying product to back of sequin
• Goo Gone
• glue-attached sequined fabric (I really think this will remove glued sequin from any fabric)
• glass of wine, beer or tea (whatever floats your boat... totally optional though)

Steps:

1.  Open Goo Gone.
2. Apply a small amount to the cotton swab.
3. Dab the swab on the back of the sequin (wrong side of fabric).
4. Flip fabric over to right side and peel off sequin. 
5. Repeat until finished! (Have a drink every few sequins.)

To see my review of Maddie's Dress by Lily Bird Studio, head over to Pattern Revolution. And here's a little (very short) video of how easily they peel off compared to not using Goo Gone. I didn't even finish my drink!