Not so supportive - the inside scoop about interfacings!

Puckering from interfacing

People tend to forget that, inside every great garment is something known as interfacing.  Interfacings are the unsung heroes of garment construction; without them, most jackets, coats and the like, would not hold their shape; at the same time, if you buy ready-made outfits, you really have no idea interfacing has been used at all, as it is not something you see.

That is, until you've had the garment while.  And, if it's washable, once you have tossed it in the machine a few times,  you'll often begin to see the presence of the interfacing.  And it's not a pretty sight. Bubbles and puckers start to appear on the surface of your garment.  This is because nowadays, most interfacing is what they call "fusible" - that is, the interfacing is ironed on. 

Bubbling at side seam

Once upon a time, there was only what is known as woven interfacing, which had to be stitched into the garment.  A great leap forward - supposedly - was the introduction of  the non-wovens or fusible interfacings as they are known. These are just applied with a hot iron.  Problem is, such fusible interfacings often have their own ideas about how long they will do their job, sight unseen.  And once they start acting up - or perhaps I should say bubbling up to the surface - you may find an item of clothing you really love becomes unseemly and you have to stop wearing it. 

Fabric after ironing

In the photos I'm showing, puckering is what's happened to a white summer vest that I've had for some time.  For most of the time I've owned this, there haven't been any problems.  But, after the last washing, the interfacing began to act up.  As the vest has decorative trim, interfacing has been used extensively to give the vest shape. 

Luckily for me, this problem can be corrected with an iron, but it's not always possible to do that; it depends on the fabric and the heat that the fabric will tolerate.

This suggests that when you're buying a piece of clothing, especially if it's a major investment, you need to investigate how the garment is made to determine how well it will stand up to standard care.  As they say, better to be safe than sorry!