Friday, January 2, 2015

Stable Tape

When using Rulers and Templates it is nice to know that the Ruler will remain stable and not move about as you are stitching.

I do not use Stable Tape on all my tools, when we are filming a design, Bill will say "you haven't got Stable Tape on that".

Westalee Stable Tape


Our Westalee Stable Tape comes in a pack of 5 for $10.00

Westalee Stable Tape is only .6mm thick.

Simply cut to size and remove the backing paper - press in place on your template.

I find that a 1"- 1 1/2"  piece of Stable Tape placed at each side of the template is all that I need. We don't need to cover the whole template.


When using a larger ruler or template, I will also place a piece of Stable Tape in the middle.

When using templates and rulers I want the template or ruler to be held steady, I also need to be able to move the template easily for re-positioning.

The adhesive we use on Westalee Stable Tape is archival.



Some of the methods that we tested that I didn't like are.

1. Using Basting Spray - the basting spray makes the ruler foggy and extremely difficult to see through. Basting spray will hold for a very, very short time and then any fluff on the fabric adheres to the spray making it useless. and most important I found when I tested this method that I could not remove the basting spray from my templates no matter what detergent or chemical I used.

2. Loop and Hook (self adhesive strip)  using the hook section (Velcro) - standard Hook is about 1.6mm thick and industrial Hook is about 2.6mm thick. Because of this thickness the Hook made the templates rock and unstable.
We found that the Hook did add any stability - hook tape just slides.

3. Double sided tape - works for a very short time before the fluff and threads adhere to the glue.

4. Applying nail polish and adhesives with salt or sand. As a manufacturer of rulers and templates we DO NOT advise using this method as acrylic can easily be damaged by chemicals.
Never use window cleaner (this contains ammonia) can cause acrylic to go white and foggy
Never use acetone (nail polish - remover)it can cause acrylic to crack.
Superglue and salt or sand as I do not know the chemical compound of glues  I do not recommend this method for the same reason as nail polish.

5. Silicon hush dots work well but are a bit too high and tend to rock.


There many different methods you can try, find the method that you like.









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