Hello everyone
Hope you all had a great weekend. We had a heat wave here in Cape town so am wilting! The winners of the woven cotton fusible interfacing are:
Avis Withers
LaRaine Winmill
Congratulations, I have tucked a packet of needles into the packet, please email me at needlepainting@gmail.com with your postal address.
I have received feedback from the manufacturers, quilters and machine embroiderers as to the long term effect and laundering of this interfacing. I refer here to the 100% woven cotton interfacing not the polyester web interfacings which I could not comment on or recommend. Apparently the reason that the fabric may bubble when washed is due to the fact that the interfacing is not fused properly when applied. The areas that are not fused will part from the main fabric when washed and cause little bubbles. To avoid this you need to iron the interfacing with a hot steam iron and hold the iron in place for at least 10 seconds on each area to make sure it is completely fused. Leave the fabric to cool completely for at least 15 minutes before use and it will be fine. I have tested this many times and it is absolutely perfect. The European vilene is a better quality product than the pellon and would be my preference but if you are unable to source vilene the pellon shape flex is fine.
I have used it with Kona cotton and Irish linen that has a slightly loose weave and it is a joy to stitch on, however I must specify that there is no need to use it on any of the fabrics that I sell in my shop such as the Irish cambric linen, Southern belle 200 count cotton or cotton satin as these do not require a backing fabric. They are sturdy enough and have a close enough weave to use alone. I love this product it works well for me, but I will leave you to make up your own mind about it?
Next week we will discuss the pros and cons of colour print on fabric, meantime wherever you are be it winter, spring, summer or autumn have a wonderful week and many, many happy stitching hours. Trish