Comparing Vilene and Pellon Interfacings / Interlinings

Anyone who knows my work will know that I'm an unashamed interfacings geek.

 

I can (and do) bang on at about interfacings at great length and in an excited manner, and have a particular squeal of delight, reserved for those "Eureka" moments when I discover something new that can be achieved with the right choice of interfacing.

 

(Ok, I may be exaggerating about the squeal being exclusive to interfacing... I start throwing around hyperbole when I get excited...)

 

The tricky thing is, that when I recommend an interfacing in a pattern or book project, it's because the properties of that particular interfacing determines the look of the finished project ... but not all of the interfacings that I use are available worldwide (particularly in the USA).  And to complicate matters further, the products that are available as substitutes in other parts of the world (read: USA) are not necessarily available to me here, in Australia.  It's hard to know what to recommend when I don't know what the equivalents are.

 

Of course, there are online resources with substitution charts, but the little that I know is enough to know that these charts are not always reliable, for my purposes (for example, I saw Peltex 71 as a substitute for Vilene S520.  Peltex is simply not going to work for many of the uses that I have for Vilene S520). 

 

In a desperate attempt to give myself an International Interfacings Education (so that I can write an international sewing book), I begged the lovely folks at Pellon to send me samples of what they thought would be substitutes for the Vilene products that I use.  Bless them, they sent this box full.... and I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks.

 

So.. what did I discover?

 

I use three different weights of woven, fusible interfacing, from a soft collaring weight (medium-heavy)  through to a voile weight (medium-light).  Of course, there are other weights of woven interfacing available here - heavier and lighter - but these are the three that suit my needs for most things.

 

Pellon SF 101 (Shapeflex) comes in somewhere in the middle - like our medium weight.  It's a lovely interfacing and is a good all-rounder for bag-making.  If I suggest using "medium-heavy interfacing", you could probably get away with using Shapeflex, but if you have access to anything a smidge denser, I'd give that a go.  If I suggest using "medium-light interfacing", I'm referring to something about half the weight of Shapeflex (more gauze-like).

 

I use Vilene H630 and Vilene H640 Fleece/Wadding all of the time, to create structure in bags and purses.  They're lightweight, fusible and create loft without too much density (which makes them easy on the sewing machine needles), and they can be used in conjunction with other interfacings (read more about that here).

Pellon 987F Fusible Fleece is the recommended substitute for H630, but I think that it's more suitable as a substitute for H640.  It's denser (more felt-like) than both of  the Vilene fleece/wadding products, and the effect on the fabric is much heavier.  It creates much more structure (and thickness) than the light "oomph" that H630 gives to fabric.

You can see the difference a bit more clearly in profile... That's the Pellon fleece between the H640 (back) and H630 (front).

 I'm not sure what to suggest to use as a substiute for  H630 (light fusible fleece).  I'd welcome any suggestions from those of you in the USA (or other non-Vilene H630 territories), if you've found something to do the trick.

Fast2Fuse, Peltex and TimTex are all stiff, compressed-fibre interfacings, of diffferent densities and fusible properties.  Below, we have Heavyweight Fast2Fuse at front, TimTex in the middle and Peltex 71 at the back.

 Fast2Fuse comes in a Regular weight and Heavy weight.  I tend to use the Regular weight on the outside of bags and purses that I want stiffened (often with a layer of H630 between the fabric and the Fast2Fuse), and it's also handy for zipper tabs and some of the fancy new (secret squirrel) things I'm currently working on.  I use the heavy-weight when I want real box-like structure, or stiff bag bases.

I've done a comparison of Fast2Fuse and Peltex before.  For bag bases, Peltex is perfectly interchangeable with Fast2Fuse.  For finer work, I'd seek out Fast2Fuse if I could, and opt for Peltex if that's all I could find (2nd choice).  Peltex has the advantage of being available in both double-sided and single-sided fusible, as well as non-fusible.  Fast2Fuse is double-sided, which isn't always convenient.  Swings and roundabouts...

TimTex is about as thick as Peltex, but slightly denser (crisper?) and not fusible.  You can use it with fusible webbing (Vliesofix/wonderUnder/Bondaweb/Heat'nBond/Steam-a-Seam) to fuse it to fabric, or wrap it in fusible interfacing to make bag bases.

You can see the different densities and thicknesses in the profile shot, below.

Vilene S520 is an easy one.  It's almose identical to Pellon Deco-Fuse. 

Vilene S320 is one of my most-used interfacings, and unfortunately, I can't find an exact substitute for it. 

I love that the embossed surface  of Vilene S320 breaks that 'cardboard' surface effect that most non-wovens have, but apart from that property, it can be substituted with Pellon Craft Fuse.  Like S320, Craft Fuse fuses at low temperature and stays stable, and it gives about the same amount of support to the fabric, and it can be used in conjunction with fusible fleece.

I've only listed Vilene and Pellon products.... but there are other brands out there, and I don't have access to all that are on the shelves in the USA or Europe.

I'd like to open up the floor to any of you who'd like to offer any other suggestions. If you have anything that you feel might be useful, please feel fre to share it in the comment box below...

Back in the saddle and captured on video (...metaphorically speaking... and not simultaneously).

 

On Saturday, I began this year's teaching schedule with  Customised Bag in a Day class.  It was good to get back into the groove, meet some new people and see some fab new bags coming into being. 

We didn't video the class (nor me in a saddle).... more of that later.

I have a busy few weeks ahead, with a Zippers For Bags class next weekend, followed by Grampians Texture and then  Large Tote (Bag in a Day) and Purse Frame classes at Addicted To Fabric in Canberra.

Then there's the Purse Frame workshop in my studio on 16th March.  We've had 2 cancellations for that day, so if you were hoping for a spot, here's your chance!

Having spotted a spare weekend just before Easter, and a waiting list or two, I thought that perhaps I could squeeze in another class, so we'll now run Beginner's Bag in a Day on 23rd March.

 If you're getting an "Active X" warning on the page as you view my website, please know that it's just something to do with the old SSL certificate from the online shop, and I've asked Joe the Super-Hero-Techie to see if he can sort it out for me.  It's not the hacker still at work.

Now... the video bit.

Stitch 56 (a major You SEW Girl stockist) are celebrating the launch of their spanking new website with specials and interviews with designers and all manner of good things (including 2 copies of my book at 15% off for the lucky first-ins).  You can check out the details here, and follow Stitch 56 on Facebook or Twitter to get next week's deals.

Helene from Stitch 56 popped into the studio last week, to interview me.  I thought I would be out of shot when I wasn't talking, and assumed the video would be edited down to the (planned) 4-5 minutes, so I forgot to put on my poised "I'm on tv" best behaviour.  Helene liked it that way, so here you have me, being my usual, fidgety, sometimes-mumbling self (what-you-see-is-what-you-get), speaking with geeky excitement about my work... and fidgeting.... and possibly exaggerating the thickness of the booklets of notes in the patterns.   (Listen to the words and ignore wild hand gesticulations. I tend to flap about a bit.)

 

I'll be back soon.... I'm cooking up a blog post about interfacings as we speak.

Like it'll change the world...

This is the current state of things on my website.

 

(EDITED TO ADD: ALL FIXED NOW - many thanks to Vireya, Joe the techie-whizz and the web hosties)

 

Well done, Vedo.  I hope you're feeling pretty pleased with yourself.

You have achieved Great Things.... like...

1.  Shutting down the website of a very small business.

2. Giving one person, who is  s t r e t c h e d  to the absolute limit right now, one more really annoying thing to have to sort out.


Go you, Vedo.  You're a champion.

Got it!



Still up to my eyeballs here, so this is a quick one.

 

I finally remembered to snap a photo of the finished cowl-front dress (a descendent of the green dress, and many others).  Having fluked a perfect cowl on a pattern-free top a while ago, I've been working on making a pattern for this dress idea.

 

It's been one of those between-book-chapter-writing think-music projects.  Now I have a pattern (and seven toiles/muslins) for it.

 



 

For me, it's the perfect little dress for summer in Melbourne.  It's a little bit slinky but not too sassy, not too casual but nor is it formal, and most importantly, it's super-cool and comfortable.  I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.

 

 

I want it in green... and blue.... 

 

I have to find the right fabric...and finish a chapter (or two).

 

 

 

PS. Since I Facebooked the photo this morning, I've had requests for the pattern.  I'm afraid it's only in my size, and I'm not sure how easily it'd alter to fit different proportions.  I'm a bit on the titchy side of average height/size.  We might have to allow a bit more think-music time for that one.