About Interfacing

Interfacing gives support to fabric and in the case of T-shirt quilts, shape.  The comfortable part of the garment is the ability to stretch and move…and this advantage is a huge disadvantage when quilting.  So a fusing is required to keep the pieces square.  There are two types of interfacing, fusible and non-fusible.  For this project I used fusible interfacing.

Cutting the Fusing

Cut pieces to match the size of your t-shirt blocks.

A rotary ruler and cutter make this really easy.

Lining Up the Fusing

Read the installation instructions on the interfacing packaging.  Find a ironing surface that will work for the size of your block so you can keep moving to a minimum.  I used a quilting mat to keep the pieces lined up, but a ironing board works well.

Lay the t-shirt piece face down and then lay the fusible on top.  Make sure the bumpy fusible side of the interfacing is fabric side down!  Use pins to keep the pieces together.   We place the pieces this way to keep the t-shirt printing away from the direct heat of the iron and the fusible side of the interfacing away from the iron.

Ironing the Fusing to Fabric

Set the iron on a low setting, this is especially true for t-shirt pieces that have a lot of printing on the front.

Start ironing in the center using an up and down motion so the fabric doesn’t ‘walk’ on you.   Work your way out and iron to just barely fuse the interfacing to the fabric.

Table of Contents
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Introduction)
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Tools)
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Fabric and Sashing)
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Fusing and Piecing)
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Assembly)
How To: T-shirt Quilt (Quilting)