Tips for Working with InnerFuse™
- Fusing Fabric – Use a pressing cloth to prevent scorching. Heavy fabrics may require additional pressing time. Use a dry iron and a “lift and press” motion.
- Quilt Stitching – Joining the fused layers with random stitching prevents fabric from shifting, and enriches the finished surface. Ball point sewing machine needles work best.
- Applying Designs on Fabric Surface – Appliqué designs, machine embroidery, and texture design techniques may be used to embellish the project surface. This is most easily done by applying the design to the background fabric before fusing the layers, quilt stitching and cutting.
- Pinning – Flat flower pins work well when pinning patterns to the layered “sandwich”. Short, strong straight pins are easier to use when pinning pieces for sewing.
- Cutting Patterns – A sharp scissors is imperative for making smooth cuts. Ragged, uneven edges are more difficult to cover with thread, leaving an unattractive finished edge. A rotary cutter and ruler work well for cutting patterns with long, straight edges.
- Marking – Disappearing ink marking pens work well for markings used to match pieces, when sewing immediately.
- Stitch Setting: Set zigzag stitch at wide width (4-6mm) and a very short length. Test on fabric sandwich until you are pleased with results. The satin stitch setting on some sewing machines works well. Experiment on scrap pieces of the fused “sandwich” until you find the stitch setting you like.
- Joining Pieces – Three dimensional project pieces are most often joined by butting two raw edges together and zigzagging so the stitch evenly straddles both edges. Allow some space between pieces until they just enter the presser foot – they will naturally move together at that point. Attempting to align them too far away from the presser foot results in puckers.
- Finishing Seams – Examine opposite sides of seams after joining pieces with zigzag stitch. If any raw edges are visible, stitch again with stitch slightly off center to catch raw edge in stitching.
- Finishing Edges –Before finishing the edge with thread, a permanent fabric marker in the same color as the thread can be used to color the white layer of Innerfuse. Depending on fabric and thread colors, you may need to stitch along outer edges more than one time to produce a smooth, finished edge.
- Manipulating Fabric Covered Pieces While Sewing – InnerFuse is surprisingly flexible. You can roll or bend your project as necessary to sew. Press with steam to restore original smooth surface and shape.
