Kraft-Tex paper fabric - anybody played with this yet?
 

This stuff is SO COOL!

I'd seen it online, but awhile back a lady in our guild brought some in and showed it off a little and it's really neat.

If you haven't heard of it - it looks like paper, but is washable like fabric. It doesn't fray. It's pretty thick and supposed to be fairly durable. It's like vinyl, though, in that needle holes don't "heal".

I have a birthday next month so I used that as an excuse to treat myself to a whole bolt of this stuff in black. (bought it from Amazon) It comes in kraft, black, white, and now I think they're coming out with more colors like grey and chocolate brown. The kraft color in particular looks a lot like leather if you sew it up right.

Mine just arrived last night, I hope to play with it this weekend. It can be sewn, painted, stamped, embossed...just about anything you can do with paper or with fabric you can probably do with this stuff.

I want to do some drawing and printing on it, and then sew it into tote bags, and if I get brave enough I'm thinking of using it to make a wallet for my sister - I think the black will look leather-ish if sewn into a wallet too.

It gets crinkly looking after you wash it - like a paper bag you've rumpled up and smoothed back out. So it gives some interesting texture options. (They recommend pre-washing if you're going to use it in something washable.)

I want to experiment with a piece and try washing it a few times and see if it gets soft enough to be used in quilts. I thought it might make a cool and unique way to put on labels - since it doesn't fray you could sew it on sort of like a Levi's leather label patch, with the raw edges exposed. Hmmm...in fact, I'm working on a denim quilt, a little rectangle of the kraft colored stuff WOULD be the perfect label since it'd look like leather... Some experimenting is definitely in order - I don't know how colorfast it is yet if you use a sharpie or something.... Hmmmm!!!

sounds interesting... please be sure and let us know how it behaves after a few washings

Never heard of it. Should be interesting to see how it works.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check it out. Please keep us posted on it "behaves".

I also have read about it. Good to get some 'real life' reviews!
Hmm, just looked at my bookmark. What I read about was Smart-Fab®. I'll have to look into the Kraft-Tex. Looks like it's a totally different product.

I had to go look at this product.
Here in Canada, Staples carries it in black and white.
Of course the price is high but looks like it would last for quite a while.

http://www.staples.ca/directory_kraf...c=googleserpss

Interesting - I'd never heard of Smart-Fab! I just Googled it and I keep seeing it described as "disposable fabric" - I wonder why they call it that? Maybe Kraft-Tex is heavier? It is pretty thick stuff. Smart-Fab sure is a lot cheaper and comes in a lot more colors.

See what you've done? Now I have to buy some of THAT to experiment with, too! LOL

I do some paper crafting and book binding too, so these products fascinate me for a whole list of reasons. :)

Hadn't seen it before either, watched the product videos here. http://www.ctpub.com/kraft-tex-style/

I was thinking about using the SmartFab to try out some tote bag patterns I'm developing in my head ;-). Sounds like it would be perfect for something like that. I wouldn't actually use the tote, but I could see how the shape looked and hopefully work out any design flaws before cutting any 'real' fabric.
I also do a lot of paper crafting (I am the Paper Princess!) and also do bookbinding.

I have seen it at Hobby Lobby. It looks like paper. Supposedly, when you wash it, it looks more like leather??? It is on my "maybe do" list. Will be looking forward to your posted results. (You will do pictures, won't you?)

I will definitely post pictures...the hard part is finding time! I'm so tired after work I usually don't do anything crafty on weekdays, and this weekend we're starting a partial remodel on the kitchen so....we'll see how long before I get any play time. :(

How fun! I just pre ordered the two new colors from Amazon. This will work great with some of my the applique dies.

I'm wondering if this is like tyvek? You know the tough envelope stuff?

I ordered some because I haven't seen it in person. I would rather know for myself if it will work for me. I think it's great new products are available for us to try.

please show us what you do with it.

It doesn't FEEL like Tyvek. It feels like really thick kraft paper, almost like cardstock - not slick like Tyvek envelopes are. I'm not actually sure what it's made out of, though, and the label on the bolt doesn't say - it could very well have some Tyvek fibers in it.

I'm home now so I cut off a little piece about 2"x1/2" to keep here at my desk to worry at and see how it wears.

I can't tear it no matter what I do, and I have pretty strong hands. I might cut a bigger strip and see if I wrap it up in my hands and really go Hercules on it if that'll let me rip it but so far I can't get a tear started, not even with digging my thumbnail into the stress point. I don't think I'll be using my fabric scissors to cut this stuff!!

If I scratch at the cut edges I can get a few little fibers to come off, but not much; the edge just gets soft and flexible instead of shredding off. The more I flex and twist it, the softer it gets.

It's stretching a little bit where I've twisted it up, it doesn't lay flat anymore. I wonder what would happen if I ironed it? I'll have to try that. If I bend it into a "U", it holds itself up, doesn't flop back flat. We'll see if that changes after I wear at it awhile.

One side has a sort of paper-fiber looking texture, the other side is smoother. The smoother side looks a LOT like leather, especially now that I've worn some creases into it.

I scratched at it with the flat edge of a metal nail file and sort of got some fuzz off. It sort of burnished it and stretched it a bit.

I love new toys!

I am going to use it on the bottom of the Professional Tote. Just have not had the chance to get started on it yet. I have the black and the white. I will wash it first to give it the leather look.

There is a book of Kraft Tex projects too. They have a website.
sandy

I thought I'd get another person's impression - I just took my little piece in to my DH and gave it to him and said, "What do you think that is made of?" He looked at it and said, "Paper?" I said, "Try to rip it." He couldn't. I asked, "NOW what do you think that is made of?" He played with it a little more and said, "Some kind of vinyl?"

I told him what it was, using probably too many words. His response was, "(pause)....neat?" LOL

OK, did all us Canadians on the board go right out and buy the whole stock up???? It was out of stock (black and white, both) when I just looked!

I read about it and was wondering how well it would work. Thought of using the kraft color to do the bottom and handles of a tote.
Please post again after you use it and pictures also.

Is that sort of the same fabric called Oly*Fun made by Fairfield? I got some last week to make a car flag for my car (I was transporting some 6th grade girls to and from church during a weekend retreat) so they could find my car in the parking lot. It was like working with medium weight interfacing. No fray, no raveling, not much give but I can see a lot of uses. At the Fairfield website they have some patterns and suggestions. http://oly-fun.com/

If my budget allowed, I would have done just that.
I will have to wait for a few months..... which is a good idea. It will give me time to read our member reports about it.

I finally abused my little strip enough that it split into two layers on the edge and I was able to peel it apart. THEN I could rip those in half on their own. Looks like it's made of 2 or more layers of the stuff, and they layer the fibers so they go perpendicular to each other. Explains why it was so hard to rip!

I was doing more research and apparently the leather patch on Levi's isn't leather anymore, it's something similar to this stuff.

I'd never heard of Oly*Fun but I just looked at the link and it doesn't look the same at all. The KraftTex stuff is a lot more like thick heavy paper, the Oly*Fun looks like that thin, strong, fabricky stuff that tote bags are made out of sometimes. I would expect the Oly*Fun stuff to be pretty soft and flexible? The KraftTex is really stiff right off the bolt, almost like thin cardboard.

I'm glad I posted about this stuff, you are all pointing out other similar stuff that's interesting too. No wonder I'm not getting any quilting done, I'm too busy experimenting with new stuff! LOL

It's been out for a while now the first thought I had was to make a tote bag so that is what I did, unfortunately can't post a pic because my friend who saw it wanted it so I gifted it to her. I will say that I used the kraft because it really does look like leather the only thing I wish that would have been done is for it to be wider sort of like with fabric!

About Us

Kraft-Tex Paper Fabric.
You'll love this rugged paper that looks and feels like leather but sews, cuts and washes just like fabric. Kraft-Tex is supple, yet strong enough to use for projects that get tough wear. Use it to bring an exciting new texture to your craft-sewing projects, mixed-media arts and bookmarking. It can be machines washed and tumble dried.

19" wide - $7 a yard USD not counting shipping and handing at the Kraft-Tex site.

Not affiliated with company, just googled.

How do you all hear about this stuff? I haven't heard a thing about paper fabric since I vaguely remember having a paper dress (pretty cool fad) back in the 60's.

I learned about it in my guild. One of our members is associated with the people who make it (somehow, not entirely clear on the relationship) and she brought some in to demo it for us as part of another presentation she was doing.

I've seen it for sale by the yard locally, but it was a lot cheaper on Amazon if you wanted a lot. And I wanted a lot. :)

I read about it sometime ago on several quilt blogs. Many Facebook quilt groups have used it too.

I too had a paper dress, but was afraid to wear it in public. I wonder where it went. lol

Interesting. I would love to hear what you think of this after you sew it up. Intweresting that you would post this. I was just thining about it. Someone in my guild sewed a purse from it last year at retreat. I keep meaning to ask her how it held up etc. It looked pretty stiff to sew with. She said it was supposed to loosen up the more you played with it. She said it was supposed to look and wear similar to leather.

Boy this is the reason I love this board! I have never heard of this material either. Like other members on this board, I look forward to future postings from you Sewnoma.

I made a small wallet from a pdf pattern online. It turned out pretty cool....but part of it was sewn, then turned "right side out". The corners didn't come out as well as I would have liked, so keep that in mind when making anything with this stuff. I want to make a "fake leather" purse out of it. Along with all the other projects that keep lining up in my head....LOL

Sounds interesting. I haven't heard of either product and will be watching for your updates.

Am I right thinking this would machine sew with a size 16 or 18 needle? What about thread size.....would 40 work?

Check Pinterest for project ideas and bloggers.
sandy

I've never heard of it but it sounds interesting.

Had no idea fabric paper could be bought - have played with making it recently using various "recipes" found on the internet....components being muslin, tissue paper, glue mixture, paint, and cheesecloth for texture if desired....it's a lot of fun. The stuff can be quite wrinkly. I have sewed on it with the machine and also by hand - I have only used it for appliques so far. It has been fun experimenting with it even though I haven't yet used it as the basic construction material for anything. Yet.

Just wonderin'....................

Should we avoid using sewing scissors on this product?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlGw5a26ww

Might try it for cloth postcards

Done.
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=kraft%20tex