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Unless otherwise noted, "fusible fleece" means Pellon 987F Fusible Fleece. If you are outside the US, Vilene H630 is the equivalent.
Cutting Fleece
You don't want the adhesive to get on your iron, or even your ironing board so cut all fleece pieces at least 1/8" smaller than the pattern piece outline.
This works best if you mark the pattern piece outline (rather than pin and cut) and then cut inside the outline. This Clover Chaco liner chalk pen is my favorite marker for marking on fleece. Some ink pens (the kind used for writing) also work well on fleece.
Applying Fleece
First off, most instructions/advice say to press fleece, but I've been ironing both fleece and interfacing to fabric for years and have never had a problem. Since pressing is what the fleece manufacturer tells you do to do, I'll just refer to using your iron to fuse fleece as pressing from here on out. FYI: Pressing is setting the iron on one area, leaving it for a few seconds, and then moving it to the next section. Ironing is moving the iron around on the surface without picking it up.
Fleece goes on the WS of the fabric and the adhesive side needs to be next to the fabric. Double check this before applying it or you might find yourself applying it to the iron or ironing board! If this happens you'll need to clean your iron with iron cleaner to get the adhesive off.
When you are applying fleece DO NOT press it directly with the iron. Fleece = polyester = plastic. If the iron is hot enough it's going to melt the fleece to the iron plate and make a giant mess. Again, you'll need iron cleaner to get it off.
There are two ways to fuse it to the fabric below. The first option is best in my experience because the adhesive is in closer contact with the heat of the iron.
- Place the fleece on the WS of the fabric, turn the pieces over so the RS of the fabric is face up, and press (or iron) the RS of fabric.
- Cover the fleece with a press cloth (scrap fabric is fine) and press.
Adding More Body
This fleece isn't very dense, which makes it good for small projects, but there are times you might want it to have more heft. There are two options to accomplish this:
- Fuse the fleece to a piece of muslin and then place the fleece/fabric piece on the WS of your fabric. For larger projects, you might want to either machine baste around the edges to hold it in place, or quilt it to the fabric.
- Apply fusible interfacing to the fabric and then apply the fleece to the interfacing.
#1 is the way I usually handle this because I use fleece primarily on lining fabric and prefer my linings to be soft and quilt like and not stiffened with interfacing. The reason I use fleece on the lining is fleece has a tendency to make fabric look a little wrinkled.
If you don't have muslin, the fleece can be fused to scrap fabric in a color/print that won't show through any of the other fabrics being used in your project.
I'll be honest and say I've never actually used #2, but it is an option.
