| I used the soil separator fabric this weekend to trace off some patterns, and have some comparisons with the swedish tracing paper/Monster paper. The soil separator (s/s hereafter) is thinner, very see-thru, and not as stable (read-- sometimes it "gives") as the swedish. However, at less than 11 cents a yard for the 48" wide variety, the s/s gets my vote. You can get an entire sheet of any pattern without having to piece the tracing. And it marks well with a dark ink pen or gel pen. Pencil drags too much. The only real problem I see with the s/s is that you won't be able to see it on some fabrics, so I retrace the lines with a Sharpie after tracing off. But the s/s does fold flat-- storage won't be a problem! |
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Audrey - What is Soil Separator fabric? I've never heard of it. Does it have another name?
12/15/03 6:21 PM
Lizzy, it's a product made for keeping dirt from clogging pipes in a septic systems. You can purchase it in the plumbing department at Lowe's - and maybe Home Depot, too. It feels like thin non-woven interfacing and comes in rolls that are 24", 36" and 48" wide. Very economical stuff for tracing patterns.
12/15/03 7:53 PM
This can also be purchased online from the manufacturer. They call it sewing fabric there. www.cariff.com
12/16/03 6:25 AM
Thank you very much for this comparison. I have a nice roll of the s/s fabric, and have wondered if I should try the swedish tracing paper. I have noticed that the s/s can stretch a little. I think the price wins me over as well! I bought my s/s from the cariff website, in the 36" wide variety. It wasn't available at Home Depot, at least not at the time.
12/16/03 12:43 PM
As I mentioned on the next tip, there's an terrific discussion of this topic on the message board at http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.pl?s=3fdfa3482106ffff;act=ST;f=6;t=1780;hl=tracing+paper+or+soil+separat.
12/16/03 7:01 PM
Thank you Audrey for this tip. I went searching for it to find out what it is and where to get it and found your tip. I'll see if I can find it here locally.
5/29/04 10:46 AM
Thanks, I am a new fan of s/s now! I use a few pins to attach it to the pattern before I trace to keep the s/s from stretching on me.
7/2/07 6:31 PM
Question: What is soil separator fabric? I am english and have never heard this term before. The review was interesting.
2/5/08 2:42 PM
What is soil separator? I have never heard of it. Where can I get some?
7/31/08 9:58 AM
Thanks for the info -- had heard of using it but had not seen an actual review of it. Will have to try it!
2/4/10 1:59 PM