suiting---interface panic!!

Dear Amy,

You're going to get all kinds of answers for this question. I taught my students (going into industry) to interface the entire front of the garment with a fusible knit interfacing, and the collar and lapel with a layer of a little heavier weight, usually a weft knit. I NEVER use Pellon for anything. The back should be interfaced as well, down about three inches in the center back and around the armholes. The sleeves should be interfaced at the lower edges. Pocket welts or flaps should be interfaced with the weft interfacing used on the collar/lapel.

Teri

Teri, Thank you! i was trying to dig out one of my old sewing books, i have an old Vogue sewing book from school, but cant put my hands on it right now. it must be packed away somewhere in my sewing room. i will go and get the int/fcing you suggested. the jacket is almost thigh length, so should i really put the int/fc all the way down the front? or just under the lapel areas? let me know. amy

Dear Amy,

What fabric are you using? That might make a difference.

Teri

That's a tough question, because you're going to want to grab a fusible that's as heavy as a non-fusible you used to work with, and it's going to overpower the fabric. So test-test-test before committing.

The one I'd probably start testing with is this one: #1348 weft:

and then proceedfrom there to the all purpose (7927) and *maybe* 4091. If you need aheavier interfacing, you can build it up layer by layer.If I didn't like those swatches, I'd probably punt and send a sample of the fabric to Louise Cutting, with a picture of the back of the patternenvelope's line drawings and ask if she could prettypleasewithsugaronit send me a couple of interfacings she thinks would work. She also has a most useful interfacing kit:: is: I keep the fashionpatterns interfacings in stock at home and use them for almost everything, because they just work. Period. Most of the interfacingssold in chain stores I wouldn't bother to take home... I've just hadway too much trouble with them, and they're mostly too heavy. Also, when you fuse interfacings, do not move them until they've cooled completely. That makes more of a difference than I ever could have imagined.

Kay

Don't panic Amy. I'm sure you will find that you know more than you think you do and it will come back to you as you get into it again.

First of all, if the fabric is a light weight rayon/poly then you will need a light weight interfacing for most of the jacket and a slightly heavier weight for the collar section (and perhaps the reveres/front edges depending on the style). You may also need to provide a bit of extra support between the shoulder and the bust as often this is where jackets get a 'hollow' look to them - this extra support is often only imprtant in blazer style jackets, IMHO.

Iron-on interfacing comes in light and dark colours so track down the darker one (which seems to be in a dark grey if my collection is a representative sample of what's available).

Iron-on interfacing does work well if the 'iron-on' process is done well. This process is a pressing one and not an ironing one - don't glide the iron back and forwards. Do a test press on a scrap of the offcuts and press on a wool setting with steam over a dry pressing cloth and hold the iron in one spot for 10 seconds. Let the sample 'set' before moving it and testing to see how good the bond is. This will also allow you to check if the interfacing you have chosen is too stiff or too floppy to give the sort of support you would like for the style of jacket you've chosen.

When you do sew up the jacket, put the iron-on interfacing on the fronts and the entire back (I notice that including the back is different to Teri, but that's what I do for light weight fabrics) For heavier weight fabrics I do something a bit different as I cut out any structural marks like darts from the interfacing as it's a bit hard to do darts crisply with too much fabric.

Don't interface the sleeves except for a bias cut strip goes from the bottom of the sleeve and extends about half an inch beyond where the hem will be turned up - you use the interfacing to catch the the stitching and make the sleeve wear well at the wrist. for the collar, cut off the seam allowance and fuse within the seam lines.

Remember that iron-on interfacing is only about giving the jacket support ond structure. It will not add warmth to the garment.

Gosh, I'd forgotten about quality issues! I agree with Kay that it is very, very important to hunt down quality iron-on interfacing. I don't know the brand that she recommends but I do know that I have a range of really good quality stuff here and when I see it, I buy it in bulk quantities. It is a rare and precious sewing aid and one opne can never have too much on hand. And like you Kay, I have never found this quality at the cheap fabric shops.

Amen to that.

Thank you to everyone!! i'll take a sample peice of the jacket fabric to the fabric store when i buy the interfacing and a print-out of your suggestions. i try not to panic, but the fabric is just what i wanted and i hate to ruin it. you gals are the best......chocolate all around!!!! amy

Both Connie and Louise sell interfacings that, in the ready to wear market, would be destined for high end RTW, and both have done extensive personal testing of those interfacings before deciding to sell them. Pam Erny is another possibility for shirting interfacings -- I have not yet tried the interfacings she sells, but I admire the quality of her work, and suspect she knows shirt interfacings as well as anyone.

I've seen the boxes of sample interfacings that Connie had sent to her for evaluation -- some of them were *so* bad that it was funny. There are "interfacing houses" that are businesses that do nothing but sell interfacings to the RTW market and help troubleshoot problems. I swear the stuff that's rejected by the RTW market winds up in retail fabric shops -- it's the only explanation I can think of.

I had sworn off fusibles after returning to garment sewing -- they bubbled, they orange-peeled, they were too stiff, the adhesive struck through to the other side, and I couldn't get any sense out of the consumer interfacings support people as to WHY I was having these problems. I went so far as to put thermocouples on the ironing board and record fusing temperatures and times, and I still couldn't get them to hold through the garment's life cycle.

A few years after that, I took Connie's home patternmaking/draping class. She spent about an hour talking about fusible interfacings and how to tell good from bad and what to look for and how to work with them. And letting us dig through samples (red interfacing! Who knew!) I was still skeptical, but came home with two yard cuts of a couple of the ones she sells and fused squares to all my scrap fabrics and then started tossing bundles of the fused squares into my washer and dryer with every load. I quit sometime around 250 wash/dry cycles... I think one square was very slightly bubbled (out of over 20 samples) but mostly the fabrics were giving out (and some were "dry clean only" fabrics). So now I'm a fusible convert, but only a convert to *good* fusibles. I keep precut strips of interfacings, too, for shirt bands and my common cuff sizes and hemline strips.

I use a lot of the sheer tricot Connie sells in everyday garments in places that a RTW manufacturer interfaces but home sewing patterns do not... it's amazing what a difference it makes to the garment appearance -- behind pockets, hems, etc. (Some of my best sewing lessons have been going to an upscale thrift store and buying a RTW garment from a good maker and getting out the seam ripper and figuring out how they did each part.)

I've used several of Louise's interfacings when my stock interfacings didn't seem quite right for the job, and I've been pleased, too. As I've said, I have not tried the stuff Pam sells, but I've liked her work and think she knows what she's doing. One of these days I'll collect enough roundtuits and order some.

I forgot to mention one thing: if you've got one of those metallized ironing board covers, don't fuse on it. The fusible won't stick to your fabric well -- something about the extra heat and steam being reflected back into the fabric is my guess. I use a piece of plywood covered with wool melton covered with twill and topped with a hunk of old sheet, and a muslin press cloth wrung out in water to the "wipe the counter" state of wetness.

Connie Crawford:

Cutting: which is: Pam Erny: Kay

I'm sure it will all come back to you once you start, but I find I make silly mistakes if I rush. I now keep in mind the following thoughts if a project is important to me.

I used to make fine furniture as a hobby and the old woodworker's maxim of "measure twice, cut once" is worth remembering.

Take it slow and steady and spend a few days mulling over the project and getting it right in your head before you do anything.

Thanks to all for the sound advice! it's coming back to me slowly. I did find my old Vogue sewing book. i'm still a little scratchy-headed, but i think after i get the basics implanted again in my brain i'll do ok. now, if i could just figure out how to post pictures.......never ending isnt it??? LOL! amy in cny

Amy, open a free account someplace like

then give us the URL.Kay

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message

Sounds like a plan......amy