The answer is “both” and they are two of the most versatile products you can have in your sewing room.

Organza and tulle are mostly recognised by sewers and couturiers as elegant eveningwear fabrics or under-linings to mount lace or devoré type fabrics upon. The technique of stabilising the outer fabric to an under minimises fabric creep, strengthen seams and gives body to the finished garment but remains relatively invisible and doesn’t change the handle or drape.

Close up view of heirloom stitching on tulle

The use of organza and tulle in embroidery does exactly the same thing. Sandwiching either between two layers of washaway will give freestanding lace more strength, ensures all the stitches remain regimented after washing, keeps a more consistent shape and generally ensures a longer life to the work.

A close up view of Organza which is perfect for dimensional embroidery

Organza is a little more opaque in its finish so it can create more of a “modesty” barrier should the embroidery placement be in an awkward area. Tulle, on the other hand, gives the same strength and stability but is almost invisible and allows either skin or a contrast colour to show through the work. Add a layer of Mylar to the tulle and you will get an iridescent reflective quality that is beyond spectacular!

By Erik Merkley

Why Use a Heat Press?

Whether for hobby or business use, heat presses are the perfect tool for applying flex and flock vinyl or large rhinestone designs. If you’ve struggled with a normal iron to get large vinyl designs to stick or find they peel off after several washes then you will benefit from a heat press.

There are three crucial ingredients to getting a long-lasting vinyl application:

• Precise timing
• Even temperature
• High pressure

While an iron is fine for small designs, it can’t deliver the consistency of temperature over a large design for the right amount of time. Heat presses have specially designed plates which spread the heat evenly, adjustable pressure, solid silicone bases to squeeze the vinyl onto the garment, and electronic control over temperature and timing.

So can I just use an ironing press?

No! Commercial heat presses are fundamentally different to domestic ironing presses. A domestic press is designed to iron and steam garments flat – hardly a task that needs high precision! There are few reasons they are unsuitable for use with vinyl:

• Ironing presses have very uneven temperatures over their heating plate, with some areas far too hot and others too cool
• Even a small amount of steam escaping can destroy a vinyl design
• The soft foam on the bottom plate great for pressing pants, but it doesn’t allow the force needed to bond vinyl into fabric
• You have no precise control over the temperature of the press or the time it is use.

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