As people who sew clothes, we know that we often need to use interfacing to stabilize areas of a garment during the sewing construction process. And while there are many different types of interfacings to choose from, I thought it was time to cover more frequently used types for those who are not so familiar with interfacings.
One of those is known as ‘non woven interfacing’, but what is it, and when should it be used?
What Is Non Woven Interfacing?
In my experience, non woven interfacing looks and feels a lot like paper, whether in light weight form or its heavier weight counterpart. It has no grain as it is neither woven or knitted.
How Is Non-Woven Interfacing Made?
Non woven interfacings are mostly made from polyester fibers which are mashed up – not dissimilar to how paper is made from pulp in fact. An adhesive is then applied to one side and it is this side which is fused to a fabric using a heat source, creating a non woven fusible interfacing.
When Should You Use Non Woven Interfacing?
I use non-woven interfacing in several ways.
Draping On The Dress Form
While non woven interfacing is generally too heavy in weight to drape, it is very useful when designing a close fitting garment on the dress form. In fact, this is the process I teach in my Drape & Contour for Beginners course.
As it is non-woven, the interfacing makes the perfect material for creating close fit patterns directly on the dress form.
We can draw on it to mark in style lines, we can cut into it with ease when we need to release tension and we know that it cannot go off grain due to its lack of grain. If the term grain is new to you, then do check out my article on different fabric grains!
Reinforcing Weak Areas
Common uses for non woven interfacing are to reinforce areas of a garment that are considered to be weak. This may be a pocket opening – I often apply a strip of non-woven fusible interfacing to prevent the opening stretching out. I often reinforce a small area prior to installing eyelets in fabric as well.
Stabilizing Garment Pieces
As well as using it to reinforce weak areas, non woven interfacing can be used like other interfacing types to help stabilize different pieces of a garment. I commonly interface:
- Button plackets
- Collar
- Cuffs
- Waistbands
Stabilizing Fabrics
For the most part you would want to match your fabric to an interfacing that is constructed in a similar way. So in most cases I will use a woven or knitted interfacing for a project, based upon the type of fabric I am using. Occasionally a non-woven interfacing is more suitable. This is often the case with leather or suede materials, when they need additional stabilization to add structure, but have no grain themselves.
How To Apply Non-Woven Interfacing
When it comes to applying a non woven interfacing to fabric, you’ll generally find that it is fusible – it will have little blobs of glue on one side which you can see in the image above right – and you’ll need an iron to heat and melt the glue so that it sticks to the fabric that needs the interfacing.
I have a full tutorial on applying fusible interfacing to fabric, but here are the basic steps for applying fusible non woven interfacing:
- Place the main fabric that needs to be stabilized right side down in front of you.
- Place the interfacing on top of the piece of fabric with its glue / fusible side facing down.
- Apply the iron with a medium heat to the interfacing.
- You may need to apply heat more than once to melt the glue blobs without damaging the fabric.
Tips To Keep In Mind
After years of stabilizing fabrics with non-woven fusible interfacing the following tips will help:
- Avoid using steam when applying heat, as this can cause bubbles in the stabilized fabric.
- Make sure not to set your iron too hot as this can damage the fabric.
- If the fabric you are stabilizing is made from more heat sensitive fibers, you’d be best using a pressing cloth to limit the direct heat being applied.
- Do not apply to sheer fabrics or lace as the interfacing will be visible!
- Make sure to match the interfacing weight to the fabric weight
Other Interfacing Types
If you’re not keen on using the non woven type, there are other types of interfacing that you can use, including woven fusible and sew in interfacings for woven fabrics, tricot interfacing for knits, hair canvas for tailoring and even light weight fabric such as organdie or organza for more lightweight and sheer fabric types.