I sat down with the person that asked me to do the first review, and apparently the product has been improved and would I try again. I said I would, so over the week-end I tried it out.
This is the product.
These are the new improved directions. Sorry they were sent over to me by cell phone.
I selected my fabrics for the project. I decided to make a placemat with a couple of flowers on it. I did read the directions before I began and I must admit they have improved them. They specifically explain what side to do the tracing on. The shiny side. So I did.
You all know I like to use templates to trace around. It saves me dragging out my light table and if drawing several of the same design it is just easier. I took out the template, started to trace and that little devil slipped and slid all over the place. I managed to do two of them and then thought I better give the other way a chance. It worked better b.u.t., see those crinkles in the paper. They really have to address this issue. It's bothersome and your pencil can penetrate through.
Okay, on we go. Following the directions specifically I tried to take the paper off the back. It doesn't come off easily. You will have to score it with a pin to get started and even then you can have issues. This is what happened to me. The fusible started to lift off with the paper. My design wasn't there so I quickly put it back down and continued to pull the paper away.
Next step. Apply the appliqué to the back of your fabric. Do not iron. Done!
Then cut out. Done! Success so far.
Then take the paper off before applying to the front of your background. Darn it!!!! I had problems. One of the petals flopped over onto another one and as this fusible is very, very, very sticky.....it stuck to itself. I tried unsuccessfully to take the fusible and put it back where it belonged. I ended up in a huge mess and finally scrunched it all together and tossed it into the garbage. At this point I thought of someone using fusible for the first time and could see aggrevation/frustration setting in.
I didn't give up though. I cut out flower number 2 and was very careful taking the paper off the back. Yes, you must score it and I did that both times. I didn't allow one petal to touch another which was hard as they were sticking to my fingers. I finally after working slowly applied the petal to my background.
Then I realized I hadn't put the stem in place. I tried to lift the petal up and the fusible was sticking to the background, not the flower. More frustration. I did manage to get everything where it should be and did manage to finish the placement. I did however switch back to my old favourite TransWeb to finish.
Will I buy this product? No. The concept is fabulous. You should be able to apply by hand and pick it up and move it, but I wasn't able to. There are still problems, so until such times as everything is done properly and one of them is definitely the paper on the fusible web, I won't be spending any money on it.
An easy placemat this month. Summery. Two flowers, two stems cut 3/4" wide and applied to a 1930's fabric. I don't know where the pattern came from, but I think it was from one I had on hand, so I can't share. You can "Google", 5 petal flower templates and choose from there.
That's it! I'm off on holidays until September. No official blog posts until then. I may pop in once in awhile to share something outstanding.......like a great idea, a great website, a great photograph. Have a fabulous summer wherever you may be. I'm going to spend mine travelling, doing photography, sewing with my grands and generally sitting around reading good books, well until the garden says its time to start picking and pickling. This is only half of it.
