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Thank you so much to Beth Conky, Gwen, Cindy, Elaina, CarlaF, Ivalyn, LoisK, NancyK, Faye Lewis, Alison, Towanda, Summerset, Meredithp and Mamafitz for talking back to my confession last Friday! I confessed that I don't always put in stay stitching.
The verdict is in and the jury ruled in favor of stay stitching!
- Ten people reported always or almost always stay stitching.
- Three people commented that it did depend a bit on the type of fabric, and emphasized the importance of stay stitching unstable and/or stretchy fabrics.
- Four mentioned experiencing negative repurcussions from not stay stitching.
- And four mentioned using other techniques to stabilize fabric (either in conjunction with or instead of stay stitching) - specifically stay tape and knit interfacing.
LoisK pointed out that, in order for stay stitching to be able to do its job, you need to do it first - before handling the fabric a lot (putting in darts, etc.)
While not everyone reported stay stitching regularly, it seems that everyone pays attention to her fabric and takes steps to stabilize it when necessary. NancyK remarked that she read that Kathleen Fasanella recommends using fusible interfacing to stabilize instead of stay stitching. This might be the post NancyK was referring to here.
This is a good lesson learned for me! Thanks again to everyone who took the time and effort to share your knowledge, experience and practices! :)
3 comments:
Isn't our sewing blog world wonderful? We all learn from each other, every day! Love it!
I love it too. Its a great sewing sisterhood.
I had to smile when I read you'd decided to go with consensus. I'm reminded of "it's not so much what you don't know that's the problem; it's what you do know that just ain't so" or "sew" as in this case :).
I'd forgotten about that collar post, thanks for the reminder. The one I usually link to is this one:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/interfacing_10_tips/
Some caveats: you're right in that people (professionals and enthusiasts) take pains to stabilize seams. Industry does stabilize, we just don't do it with stay stitching very often. One thing I didn't mention is that if I have something really tricky that creeps around on me, I will use a template (the pattern underneath) lay the goods down on that and then press the fusible so I know the neckline hasn't traveled.
Another thing; we usually interface our facings. Since the facing is stabilized, we might not need to fuse the neckline of a bodice because we use the fused facing as a guide or a sort of stay.
One last item, on rare occasions when it's best that the neckline not be fused for final construction, I have some ratty old fusible that doesn't stick very well. I'll fuse that on, sew the seam, and then tear the fusible away. This is nearly the same thing as the paper piecing that quilters do. This technique is a good tool.
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