Saturday, March 9, 2013

My thoughts on Soft and Stable and a 'Pin'cushion too



I've discovered a great 'new to me' product that I have to share with you!

The Sweetwater Four Square Bag that I showed off in my last post called for byAnnie's Soft and Stable.






After a bit of searching, I was able to find it at one of my LQS's and I love the stuff!  I highly recommend it for bags!

It's kind of a foam-like product.  Mine was cut off of a giant roll at the store, but I think it comes in sheets too.

It gives the bag flexiblilty, softness and stability without being too bulky.

It's not as bendy......is that a word?.......as batting would be, but much more flexible than the stabilizers or interfacing I've used in the past.





I'm really pleased with the results and I'm happy that I decided to give it a try.  I didn't want to wait to order it, so I had considered substituting batting, stabilizer, or a combination of both instead.

Stephanie from Loft Creations gives a great detailed review here if you'd like to read what she has to say too.
  
I'm glad I tried the Soft and Stable. It gave the bag a more polished look and feel.  I'll definitely be using it again!

Have you tried it? 



  

On a different note, I'm happy to see that my Morsel pincushion that I posted about here seems to been pinned fairly often on Pinterest recently.

It's just fun to see that so many other crafters like it!.......Not to mention, I looked around at some pincushion boards when I was checking out what was going on, and I got too many lots of new ideas!




14 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

I tried the Soft and Stable when it first came out and did a blog post review about it. I love it and use it for ALL of my bags now. It really gives it a nice shape. It's best for big to medium bags.

Julierose said...

That pin cushion is so cute!! Julierose

Cheryl said...

Thanks for the recommendation and the fabrics you chose for your Morsel are just the best!

JoAnne said...

I've been using Soft and Stable for several years now, and I love it, too. I actually had a class taught by Annie--her patterns are great, too, by the way. She told us that she initially was using "headliner foam" but when she would teach a class, the students wouldn't know where to find it, so she developed Soft and Stable. Headliner foam is the material that is used to upholster the ceilings in cars. It has "fabric" on foam and comes in all sorts of colors. Soft and Stable has fabric on both sides of the foam. If you can't find Soft and Stable, headliner foam is a good substitute.

Izzy said...

Sounds like I really need to get some Soft and Stable! Thank you for the info Michele.

Terry said...

That sounds like a great product! I love your pincushion! :0)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Love your pincushion!

Annie said...

Michele, Thanks for posting your thoughts on using Soft and Stable in your bag. I'm happy that you found it at your local quilt shop. Soft and Stable is 58" wide and I sell it in 1/2 yard (18" x 58"), 1 yard (36" x 58") or 2 yard (72" x 58") pieces. It also comes on a 15-yard roll which quilt shops love because then customers can buy whatever length they need.

As JoAnne said, I used to use headliner foam, but needed a better product, so found a manufacturer to make it for me. Soft and Stable has fabric on BOTH sides of the foam which makes it much easier to use. I also picked a more dense foam so it has better stability and isn't as stretchy.

I've got lots of video tutorials on my website showing the difference that Soft and Stable can make in your projects. I hope you'll check them out, too:
http://www.byannie.com/tutorials/

Annie said...

P. S. LOVE the pincushion you made and the choice of fabrics for your bag.

Candace said...

Thanks to Stephanie, I've tried the Soft and Stable as well - great stuff! Your pin cushion is adorable, Michele - now you're giving me ideas....
Cheers!

Leah said...

I just ordered sweetwater's basket pattern kit and it calls for soft and stable. I had never heard of it before so it is interesting to see your post today. I usually use fusible fleece to make my bags stiff. Have you ever used fusible fleece? I was wondering if you could compare the two products. I really want to make the basket right away, but I don't have a LQS nearby and really don't want to wait for mail order, so mainly I was wondering if I should just use the fleece or wait another week and order the soft and stable.

Houseelf said...

Soft and Stable is new to me too. Thanks for sharing. Yes very cute pincushion.

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

I wish I could get Soft and Stable locally. I would also like to try the line of stablizers and batting by Lazy Girl Designs too.

Denise in PA said...

Glad for the review of S&S - I have some stashed away I bought last year when I saw it on our shop hop. Now, to find a bag pattern to use it in! Love that morsel!