Stiffy is an easy to use fabric stiffener with a waterbase formula from a trusted brand that most of us are familiar with, Modge Podge. The instructions say to stir well although stirring is hard with this type of bottle so I shook it well, made a puddle on a piece of wax paper, rolled one of my silk dupioni fabric beads through the puddle, and let it dry. It dried very hard - I can't push a needle through it - and the layer of product dulled the luster of the fabric and darkened the colour. That's not a judgment; it's simply what happened and something to keep in mind since it could be useful at times. I'll need to see how hard the bead is to drill through. If it's easy, I could coat the beads first and if it's not, I might prefer to coat the completed piece after stringing the beads... which sounds mucky... and I don't like mucky... so we'll see.
What I really wanted to know is how firmly would Stiffy hold this fabric heart and how would it impact the overall look and feel of the pendant. I used a soft bristle brush to apply two layers to the back of the heart allowing it to dry thoroughly between each layer.
If I drop or throw the resulting piece, it holds its shape. When I push on the ends, it flexes minimally. The colour on the front was protected by the layers in-between and not impacted at all. As a bonus, the thread work has an extra layer of sealant to keep it from fraying. I'm pleased. I would try this product again on other fabric pendants.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - new learning and a fun heart to play with
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