A 'Soft & Stable' Presto Purse

I've made no secret of how much I LOVE Soft & Stable, the new handbag foundation material that gives a professional look to handmade bags. We loved it so much that we designed our newest pattern, the Baggalista, especially with Soft & Stable in mind.  But now folks are asking...

"Can we use Soft & Stable" on your other patterns"? 

"Can "Soft & Stable" be substituted for fusible fleece or interfacing in your earlier patterns"?

and 

"Are you planning to revise your older patterns so "Soft & Stable" can be substituted for fleece or interfacing"?

And the fact is we may, (with the help of some volunteers), revisit a few of our patterns to see what difference Soft & Stable makes. We could then post any recommendations here, as well as on our website.

Here's Diane's finished Presto Purse!

And then along came this "Handbag of the Month" entry from Diane Rhodes, in which she proudly described how she substituted Soft & Stable for the fusible fleece in her Presto Purse entry.

So of course I immediately contacted Diane to find out how it went. And it turns out that Diane used the Soft & Stable in EVERY area where fusible fleece was called for, the front, back & side of the purse, as well as the flip-open ID area.

Donna said she 'stitched in the ditch' between her exterior segments.
It gave a her finished bag a quilted look.

I was primarily interested if Diane struggled with the added bulkiness in the seam areas & elsewhere, since a complete substitution for the fusible fleece would not have been my initial recommendation. Diane reported that while she did notice an increase in seam thickness, it didn't really bother her too much (but she tell me that she has a GREAT sewing machine). The flip-open ID area was a different story though, because she had to place velcro at BOTH corners of the flap to get it to stay closed.  Her overall impression of Soft & Stable was... She LOVED it!

Donna said that the Soft & Stable did add quite a bit of bulkiness
to the flip-up ID section. She worked it out by
adding additional velcro to the closure area.

So ... after discussing this with Diane, here's our official recommendation for substituting Soft & Stable for fusible fleece in the Presto Purse.

- Using the 'Purse' pattern piece, cut TWO in Soft & Stable. Cut everything else as directed in the Presto Purse instructions.
- When you get to 19, place your 1st Purse in Soft & Stable on the wrong side of your Purse Exterior. Stitch it in place ~1/8" from all edges.

- And when you get to 43, place your 2nd Purse in Soft & Stable on the wrong side of your Purse Lining. Stitch it in place ~1/8" from all edges.

Now you can finish your Presto Purse as directed in the instructions. Your completed bag should maintain it's shape better and for MUCH longer, (even when fully loaded).

And where do we go from here?
Our general recommendation is to NOT routinely substitute Soft & Stable in every location where fusible fleece is called for, when using our patterns. We'll be doing some research with our older patterns as time allows, but in the meantime if you feel inclined to try this material in one of our patterns, we would love to know how it goes so we can share your findings with everyone else.  :)

And just so you know, here's the winner of the 

Hand-Dyed Fabric Giveaway from Vicki Welsh

Congratulations to  Syd O. of Franklin, Idaho

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