Sewing Tip: Tear-Away Vilene Shields
Want to know what Vilene shields are? If you end up with necklines, armholes and waistbands stretching whilst you’re handling/sewing your garment, a very unsightly mess, read on!
In sewing classes, sewing reference books etc we’ve all been told to stay-stitch these areas to secure them from stretching, works well some of the time. Here is a fabulous rag-trade tip that works much better for this problem.
Tear-Away Vilene is a non-fusible (soft paper like) interfacing, available in Black and White. In the fashion industry patterns usually come with vilene shield instructions for necklines, armholes and waistbands to be cut as well.
Instructions: After cutting your pattern out in your chosen fabric, you lay the neckline, armholes and waistbands onto the vilene, pinning it in place and cutting around your outer neck, waistline or armhole (only if it’s sleeveless) edges and approx out 1″ past this point, then you mark approx 1″ down from this, these are your vilene shields. You end up with something like this.
In a dress I made recently in this very lovely, but soft and floppy rayon, having the vilene shields attached to the neckline, made it so much easier to handle when sewing on my neck bias binding.
Pin in place and sew it (within the seam allowance) onto the wrong side of the neckline front and back, you can sew the shoulder seams together and after sewing on your neck facing/binding and just before you turn this over to the correct side you rip into the tear away to the seam line and tear it all away, what ever remains inside the seam can stay there and will be covered up by the binding or facing. It will also tear-away from the shoulder seams.
Thanks for the great advice. Is there something similar for knit fabrics? – or is stay stitching still the best for knits?
For a wider neckline on a knit (say a boat neck) stay stitching is great. As long the opening is wide enough and doesn't get stretched when pulling over the head, stay stitching will snap. There is a rubbery jelly tape ideal for necklines ans shoulder lines…look out for a tutorial on that next month!
Where is vilene sold? Probably not the J store.
Do you think I could use Swedish tracing paper in place of Vilene (as I have this handy) ?
I haven't seen Swedish Tracing paper. From the photos on the internet it looks very similar, do a test on a sample and see if it works, in particular check that the paper tears away easily without putting a strain on the fabric.
It is also very useful when you want to sew in a zip into a stretchy fabric! 🙂
Colette,
Thanks for the tip. Sounds like great stuff-looks like I have to get some!
US equivalent? Thanks.
Hi Phyllis,
Not sure who stocks it in the US but if you need to purchase some we sell it online.
http://www.tessuti-shop.com/products/white-tear-away-vilene
Then you can compare it to what's available near you. It's a similar weight to Vilene that is placed behind embroidery to stabalize the base fabric, but make sure that it's the correct weight that tears away easily.
HI .. is this water soluble? Trying to find something close to it here in the US but most of them are fusible – do you think as long as it tears away easily it could work? Thank you … LOVE your website! Ordered the Bondi Dress pattern today 🙂
I am in Canada and used “Unique Tearaway embroidery backing” you can also get a “Pellon” brand that tears away. I just made the Kate top and the tear away shield left bits of fiber on the seam edge but I’ve just rinsed the top and all the little bits of shield dissolved so I guess it worked!
Oh my goodness, I was in our local fabric store yesterday and was looking for more tear away stabalizers, the one I used in my previous post was just in my stash of sewing stuff, probably many years old :-). There were so many stabalizers, cut away, tear away, heat away and wash away; some iron on, stick on, and sew on, and many different weights! Sulky was one of the brands, Pellon another. I was told there are even more brands. I just got a huge lesson in stabalizers and will have to pay more attention to what I’m buying!
Hello, I’m making the Bondi dress. It has facings and Vilene patterns. So according to your post here, I’d sew on the Vilene and the facings and THEN tear off the Vilene?
Thank you so much for such a beautiful pattern. Making some Bondi dresses for spring!
Hello,
Is the Vilene shield you have referenced as Vilene 314? I want to sew the sleeveless Rae top and would rather buy the Vilene in Europe as I’m in France. Thank you, Catherine
Hi Catherine. Apologies for the delayed reply I’ve spoken to our supplier and they don’t refer to is as Vilene 314. However, it can be referred to as Stitch n’ Tear so if your local supplier calls it this, it should be the one (or at least similar).
Cheers
Working on my second Tavi top using double gauze, my first Tessutipattern. Until this pattern, I’d never heard of this technique. It’s absolutely wonderful, especially for double gauze. I’m in the USA, and sadly, Vilene products are rarely sold here, nearly impossible to find. I used tear-away embroidery stabilizer for the Vilene shields, some generic I have on a big roll, and it works well. Thank you so very much for making my sewing better.
I think a suitable substitute is Pellon 360 EZ Stitch. I’ll be trying it soon on a dress made from a jersey knit with front pleats. I’ll use this to stabilize the area at the neckline where the pleats start.