I made this yesterday, to replace a very old one that pretty much goes everywhere with me. I keep a pouch in my purse with my chapstick and hair elastics and all those little things that get lost in the bottom of my bag, that way when I switch purses I have fewer things to transfer.
I’ve been wanting to try some of these batting alternatives for a while now. I bought two brands: Soft & Stable and inn-control. They are foam, similar to what’s inside of a Vera Bradley bag, about 1/8″ thick with a knitted fabric on both sides. The inn-control that I bought happened to be 2-sided fusible, which I didn’t realize when I purchased it. Fusible wouldn’t be my first choice after all the issues that I’ve had with fusible fleece, but it’s perfect for these types of zippered pouches so that’s what I made. So far I haven’t found the wrinkling to be too offensive, but I’ll carry it around for a few days and see. And possibly wash it, just to see what happens. I’m most interested in the weight/feel/thickness of it. I did not use fusible interfacing at all, just a sandwich of lining fabric, the inn-control and the main fabric. I also used a zipit long pull zipper.
I’m usually obsessed with finished edges (as in, lined bags with no need to overlock) but since this was more about testing out the batting, I figured I could get away with it. Plus, I got to play with my cool new Bernina #2A overlock foot. :)
It wrinkled a little bit as I turned it right side out, but as soon as I pressed it flat again the wrinkles came out. It has a really nice weight that would work very well for a gadget cover or maybe even a camera bag or a structured, gusseted bag. I did cut it smaller so there was less bulk in the seams, and that seemed to work out really well. I can’t wait to make something else with it.
UPDATE: So, I washed it and it did that same pucker/wrinkle that fusible fleece does, but it pressed out quite nicely. I would say don’t use the fusible if you’re making a shaped tote bag that you can’t press flat, but for these little zippered pouches it’s fine!
I love soft n stable!
never heard of these before and this pouch is just what I NEED, and I love your blog which I found through Stumble
I have not heard or seen this, but I have been overseas a while. I will for sure look when I am in the US this week.
I used the double sided fusible making my two zip hipster. It was a bit of a struggle turning it inside out, but the finished bag looks very professional
I wonder if headliner fabric/foam is the same thing? I used some so make some “boots” that cover ice skates for a costume my daughter needed for a show.
[...] made this little pouch for my mom using the same technique as this one, except it’s tiny so I quilted it with super thin batting instead of using the thick [...]