The Interfacing Edition
- Rosie Jones
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Welcome to Sew & Tell, our new weekly edit landing every Wednesday. Inside you’ll find sewing tips, clever tricks, inspiration for when your sewjo is hiding, and plenty of answers to your burning questions.
Each week, we’ll spotlight one question from our community - so if there’s something you’ve been wondering about your sewing projects, just get in touch and let us know. Everything we share is designed to help you sew with more confidence.
This week we are diving into interfacing and trust me there's a lot to share!
✂️ Tip of the Week - Choosing the Right Interfacing
One of the biggest mistakes I see in the studio is people using interfacing that’s far too heavy for their fabric and honestly it can completely ruin a garment.
You can spend hours sewing something beautifully, but if the interfacing is too stiff it can make collars stand awkwardly, facings bubble and lightweight fabrics lose all of their lovely drape and movement.
Your interfacing should support the fabric, not overpower it.
If you’re ever unsure which weight to choose, I would nearly always err on the side of caution and go lighter. A lot of cheaper brands label their interfacing as “medium weight” when in reality it’s incredibly stiff and far too heavy for most dressmaking projects.
As a rough guide:
🧵 Lightweight interfacing → lightweight cottons, poplin, lawn, viscose, rayon, linen, silky fabrics, shirt fabrics, facings and most dressmaking projects
🧵 Medium weight interfacing → collars, cuffs, waistbands and areas that need a little more support and structure
🧵 Stretch/knit interfacing → stretch fabrics and jersey fabrics where you still need the fabric to retain movement and stretch
🧵 Heavyweight interfacing → reserved for things that genuinely need structure like bags, heavy coats or craft projects
For things like facings and button plackets, I’d usually stay around the lightweight to light-medium range depending on the fabric. Heavy interfacing in these areas can make garments feel really bulky and “cardboardy” very quickly.
Medium weight can work well for collars and cuffs when you want a little more crispness, but again it completely depends on the fabric you’re pairing it with.
If you’re ever unsure, always fuse a small test sample first before applying it to your actual garment pieces. It makes such a difference and can save a project.
And this is definitely one area where you get what you pay for. I personally won’t use anything except Vlieseline interfacing. Over the years I’ve tried cheaper alternatives and they simply don’t perform as well.
Good quality interfacing should:
✂️ Stay fused properly after washing
✂️ Not bubble or peel away
✂️ Hold its structure long term
✂️ Move naturally with the fabric
Cheap interfacing often disintegrates, lifts after washing or completely changes the feel of the garment.
Sometimes the parts nobody sees are actually what make a handmade garment look beautifully made
🧵 This Week’s Make Inspiration: Using Our Cotton Poplin Bow Fabric
This fabric is just screaming to be sewn up into a gorgeous summer dress or three
It’s 100% cotton poplin which makes it an absolute dream for summer sewing projects.
Poplin is a lightweight woven cotton fabric with a smooth finish and a little bit of structure. It’s breathable, comfortable to wear in warm weather and holds its shape beautifully without feeling heavy or stiff.
It’s one of those fabrics that works brilliantly for dresses and skirts because it has enough body to show off gathers, puff sleeves and shaping, whilst still feeling soft and easy to wear.
Why we love poplin for summer dressmaking:
✂️ Breathable and cool to wear
✂️ Easy to sew with
✂️ Presses beautifully
✂️ Great for beginners and experienced sewists alike
✂️ Holds shape without feeling bulky
✂️ Perfect for dresses, skirts, blouses and matching sets
Honestly this is the kind of fabric that makes you immediately start mentally planning your summer wardrobe
We’ll share some pattern links below that we think would look absolutely gorgeous made up in this fabric
Interfacing questions we get asked all the time
Which side of the interfacing is the glue side?
Usually the slightly textured or shiny side is the glue side. A quick touch test normally helps, the glue side often feels slightly rougher.
Why won’t my interfacing stick properly?
Most of the time it’s either not enough heat, not enough steam, or not holding the iron in place for long enough. Press the iron down rather than iron backwards and forwards.
What temperature should I use to fuse interfacing?
Always check the manufacturer’s instructions, but generally a medium to high heat with steam works best depending on your fabric. However always start low and slow and the more lightweight your interfacing, the lower the temperature.
And if you’ve ever accidentally ended up with glue residue on your iron afterwards… our iron cleaner sticks will become your new best friend 😂 it literally gets anything melted off!
⭐ Sewing tools that are actually worth buying
There are so many sewing gadgets out there, but these are the tools we genuinely use all the time in the studio and the items we regularly sell out of!
Keeps your iron clean and gliding smoothly, especially after using interfacing or fusible products.
Brilliant for measuring and pressing hems, cuffs and seam allowances accurately without burning your fingers.
A great alternative to pins for zips, hems and tricky fabrics. Holds fabric temporarily and washes out easily.
Perfect for marking darts, notches and alterations clearly, then the marks disappear with the heat of the iron.
Makes such a difference to the final finish of a project. Better structure, less bubbling and a much more professional result.
FAQ: Could you explain how and when to use seam tape and stay tape. I’ve seen it for sale but not been sure if I need it.
This is such a good question because seam tape and stay tape are terms that often get mixed up online, and if you Google them you end up seeing all sorts of completely different products.
The most important thing is understanding what job you actually need the product to do in your project, because there are several different types designed for different purposes.
The 3 main types that are really useful to know are:
This is usually an inflexible woven fabric tape (often around 0.6cm wide), that gets sewn directly into seams to stop them stretching out or distorting.
It’s commonly used for:
Shoulder seams
Waist seams
Areas needing extra stability
Preventing seams from growing during wear
You’ll often see it used in knit garments where shoulder seams can easily stretch over time.
This type has stretch in it, which means it stabilises fabrics whilst still allowing movement.
It’s brilliant for:
Stretch necklines
Jersey garments
Areas that need recovery after stretching
Preventing knit neckbands from becoming wavy
This is the kind of tape you’d use when you don’t want to completely remove stretch from an area, just control it.
This is one of my personal favourites for dressmaking.
These are fusible strips cut on the bias with a line of stitching running through them. You iron them onto areas like necklines and armholes before sewing.
They’re especially useful on woven fabrics because they stabilise curved and bias-cut edges without making them stiff.
I used this internally on the neckline and armholes of the Ogden Cami I recently made, which is why those edges look so clean and pristine and haven’t stretched out at all, even though they’re all cut on the bias.
Honestly, this type of stabilising can make a huge difference to the final finish of a garment and is one of those little professional techniques people often overlook.
You definitely don’t need every type immediately, but once you start sewing more garments they become incredibly useful tools to have in your sewing kit.
❓ Got a sewing question you’d love us to answer? Share it with us - it might inspire next week’s email!
That’s it for this week’s Sew & Tell! I hope you’ve found a little inspiration, a handy tip, or a spark to get back into your sewing projects.
Until next Wednesday, happy sewing!
Rosie xxx
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