Fusible Quilt Patterns

Non-woven fusible interfacing (FI) has been used for many years in the manufacture of apparel. It has its uses for quilting, too. As a lightweight but stiff material with heat-activated adhesive properties, it successfully rivals freezer paper.

Fusible interfacing – a lightweight, stiff semi-transparent pattern making material

You can find a wide range of FI products intended to suit any sewing purpose. Recognizable brand names include Pellon and Vilene, although others are also available.

You can find FI at any dressmaker fabric shop. You may discover it labeled as “Iron-On Interfacing.” Look for it somewhere near the cutting tables, and ask for it if you do not immediately see it. Most FI products come with fusing instructions; be sure to ask the clerk for them. Carefully read the fusing instructions before you attempt to use the product, so that you understand the importance of heat and time in the fusing process. Instructions differ from one product to the other, even though they seem similar.

FI makes an ideal pattern for irregular shape or art quilting. An entire quilt top design is drawn on the FI like a line drawing sketch. Then each shape is cut out and fused to its appropriate fabric, thus transferring pattern directly to fabric. Like freezer paper, the edges of FI shapes define the sewing lines of the patches, so the FI serves as a pattern/guide for sewing.

You can turn the seam allowances in along the edges of the FI pieces, much as you would do in freezer paper piecing. Better than freezer paper, FI is softer, more flexible and adheres permanently. It does not make your patchwork awkward and difficult to handle under a sewing machine needle.

Unlike freezer paper, FI used as a pattern remains in the quilt, serving not only as a pattern, but also providing added support and stiffness ideal for wall hanging quilts. Additionally, if properly fused, FI does not come away from the fabric as you work with it the way freezer paper can. The added stiffness and weight help a wall hanging hold its shape and hang flat against the wall.

To use FI as a pattern for a quilt is not difficult. Because it is somewhat transparent, you can lay a piece of FI on top of a clearly defined drawing on paper and lightly trace the design onto it with a sharp pencil.

Trace with the sticky side of the FI up, so that you are drawing on the adhesive. Drawing the design onto the adhesive side of the FI will preserve the design’s directional integrity. If you draw on the side that lacks adhesive, your quilt top will be a mirror image of the original design!

Once you have transferred the design to the FI, you may cut apart the patches. The cut edges of the FI pattern pieces are the equivalent of the seam lines in the finished piecing or appliqué, and they serve as important guides for your sewing. Treat them carefully.

Do not attempt to cut apart the entire pattern at once. You will quickly lose control over your pattern and the quilt piecing. Work instead in small sections, cutting and piecing the easiest sections first and gradually working toward the more difficult seaming.

Place the fabric right side down on your ironing board. Lay the FI patches on top of it with the adhesive side down, against the wrong side of the fabric, and the non-adhesive side up, ready for the face of your iron. FI pattern patches have no seam allowance. Arrange FI pattern patches on your fabrics, leaving enough space around each fused pattern patch so that you can add seam allowance as you cut out each patch.

As you fuse each FI pattern piece you need to the fabric, cut out each patch with dressmaker shears or rotary cutting equipment. Because the edges of the pattern piece coincide exactly with the patch seam lines, you need not be quite so careful about cutting perfect 1/4″ seam allowances.

For patchwork piecing, place seam line to seam line, FI edge to FI edge, not cut fabric edge to cut fabric edge as you have learned to do for traditional block quilting. Remember, the cut edges of the FI patches show you where the sewing lines belong.

For appli-piecing, turn under the seam allowance of one patch, position and align it with an adjacent patch, and zigzag or hemstitch from the right side of the quilt top.

For applique, turn under all edges of a patch and replace the interfacing in the hole left behind. Hand or machine sew in place.

Be creative in your approach, and conscientious in your craftsmanship, and above all – have fun using fusible interfacing as your new pattern making material of choice.

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