Stabilizers & Interfacing

As a sewist and quilter, you may often work with fabrics that need a bit of extra oomph. Quilting stabilizers are materials used to provide support and structure to fabric, particularly when working with delicate or stretchy materials, intricate designs, or when using certain quilting techniques like machine embroidery or appliqué. Sewing stabilizers help prevent distortion, puckering, and stretching during the quilting and sewing process, resulting in more precise and professional-looking finished projects.

There are several types of quilting stabilizers available, including:

➤Tear-away stabilizers: These quilting stabilizers are designed to be easily torn away once the stitching is complete. They provide temporary support during stitching and can be removed by tearing along the stitched lines.

➤Cut-away stabilizers: Cut-away stabilizers are more permanent than tear-away stabilizers. They are usually made of a stronger material and are trimmed away from the fabric after stitching is complete. Cut-away stabilizers provide long-term support and are ideal for stabilizing fabrics that are prone to stretching or distorting.

➤Water-soluble stabilizers: These stabilizers dissolve in water and are typically used for delicate fabrics or fabrics that cannot withstand tearing or cutting. Water-soluble stabilizers are often used for lace, sheer fabrics, and free-motion embroidery.

➤Heat-away stabilizers: Heat-away stabilizers disappear when heat is applied, such as with an iron. They are especially useful for projects where the quilting stabilizer needs to be removed without leaving any residue.

➤Fusible stabilizers: Fusible stabilizers have an adhesive backing that can be activated with heat, usually from an iron. They bond to the fabric when heat is applied, providing stability during stitching.

Quilting stabilizers come in various weights and thicknesses to suit different fabrics and projects. It's essential to choose the right stabilizer for your specific project and fabric type to achieve the best results; because they are needed so frequently, Missouri Star keeps many types of fabric stabilizers and interfacings in stock.

Imagine that you’ve found a lovely length of silk for a blouse; it drapes like a dream. But the placket and collar need interfacing to support buttons or the blouse will look slouchy and shapeless. Fortunately, there are many sew-in and fusible stabilizer interfacing options–even for lightweight and delicate fabrics like silk.

If you are working on a tote bag project and wish to use 100% cotton fabric instead of something heavier, a foam quilting stabilizer will make your finished bag stronger, more comfortable to carry, and much easier to load.

When you want to add applique to your quilt blocks, a fabric stabilizer for quilting will help your fabric move easily over the feed dogs on your machine and keep the stitches uniform.

Have you tried foundation piecing? You might fall in love with this quilting technique if you use sewing stabilizer paper like Bosal Foundation Stabilizer or Stitch n Sew EZ Print Quilt Block Sheets. These nifty 8.5”x11” sheets will load into your printer so that you can quickly create patterns for your quilt blocks. After you stitch the blocks, the sheets easily tear away. If you are wondering how to use fabric stabilizer for foundation piecing, you may watch Jenny, Natalie, and Misty demonstrate the technique in the Triple Play tutorial below. These products are also excellent sewing stabilizers for machine embroidery.

Folks who do machine embroidery typically use a fabric stabilizer to support the stitches of their designs. Depending upon where the embroidered design is applied, they might prefer a washable lightweight stabilizer fabric that permanently remains in the garment, household item, or quilt. Other folks who do machine embroidery prefer wash away fabric stabilizer–an example is Solvy Water Soluble Stabilizer by Sulky. This sewing stabilizer works well for monograms, applique, lace work, cut work, thread sketching, and more. When the sewist is ready to remove Solvy, the excess is cut away. Then the fabric is submerged for about two minutes until the stabilizer dissolves.

T-shirt quilts make great gifts for graduates, retirees, athletes, and those celebrating milestone birthdays. Quilting stabilizers are a must when working with knit materials! It is very difficult to control the stretching and rolling that knit material tends to do. It will be much easier to square the blocks of your t-shirt quilt if they have been built with quilting stabilizer. You can watch Natalie and Misty demonstrate how to use the Making Memories T-Shirt Quilt Kit on the episode of Missouri Star Live below.

If you enjoy making functional household and craft items, manufacturing companies such as Bosal and Kraft-Tex produce quilt interfacing precut into shapes for placemats, fabric baskets, and Christmas ornaments. These quilting interfacing products save time. They also ensure that when you make a set of something–such as placemats or coasters–each item will turn out the same size and shape!

No matter what sort of quilting or sewing project you are planning to tackle, Missouri Star has the interfacing or stabilizer that will help you achieve blue ribbon results.