Alternative to Lacy's Stiff Stuff Beading Foundation?

I came across some Friendly Felt made by the Kunin Group and thought I would try it for foundation to see if it holds up as well as Lacy's Stiff Stuff.

I will be updating this post as I go through the process so you might want to check back throughout the day and evening hours.

Lacy's has been my go-to foundation for bead embroidery and while it is very dependable allowing me to bead right up to the edge it can get costly (6-pack of 5X8.5 inches runs around $14.00). The Friendly Felt is made in the USA from 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles and runs around $10.99 for (12) 9X12 inch sheets. It also comes in a variety of colors while Lacy's comes in only white. I have dyed Lacy's before and was not really too happy with the results I obtained but then I only tried once. I have not yet attempted to dye the Friendly Felt.

Kunin Friendly Felt has the same stiff feeling as Lacy's but I am wondering if it will hold up as well. I have sewn into it very close to the edge and tried to pull the thread out towards the edge and it resisted very well and did not pull through. I used E6000 to attach my cabochon as always and it adhered nicely with no apparent damage to the felt. So far, so good.

Now onto the beading portion.

The threads are remaining nice and tight and the felt is quite easy to bead through.



The felt is holding up very well and is maintaining the stiffness needed for beading. The only thing I wonder about is the thickness when beading together with my backing which is ultasuede. We'll see!