I need something flexible but a bit stiffer than the thin card I'm using for stencils atm

[lucysmam]

The top layer's peeling off as I take off the masking tape that was holding it in place so I can move onto my next piece of fabric.

Any ideas/suggestions?

tia

Laminate the stencil?

Those very thin plastic chopping boards are good for things like that. I think that Lakeland sell them, but I'm sure you can get cheaper ones too. The only difficulty is cutting the shape out cleanly - it depends how complicated your shape is.

My mum used to use plasticard - sold by model making shops - for her patchwork templates
www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/plasticard.htm

acetate (can get A4 pages for printing on from Rymans)

I've used this successfully in the past. They also stock thicker/thinner versions. www.fredaldous.co.uk/canson-home-translucent-50-x-70cm-raspberry.html

No access to a laminator so that's out & I'm not sure how well I could cut out of a chopping board - might see if poundshops or Wilko have one cheap that I could try out.

I have some acetate sheets lurking in the drawer I was going to clear out tomorrow so will try one of those & see how I get on for now.

Thank you so much for the ideas, have been trying unsuccessfully to think of something I could use all day!

I quite like the look of the plasticard & the foldable stuff though...might need another project to try them out.

Paper plates? Depending on how big your stencils are intended to be.

Just a thought. Before I got the sheets I used thin plastic place mats. I saw you had mentioned wilco and it reminded me.
I must admit I prefer the translucency of Fred Aldous stuff as I often trace things for template making, it also helps with positioning it.

I'm measuring for placement at the minute - the pattern shrinks in size as it goes up the fabric panels i'm doing so I've cut three in different sizes.

Might be handy for future projects though, I have no idea what to do when these are done yet.

I don't think the paper plates I have are quite big enough, each piece is 8" tall. Think I might have the same trouble with the edges peeling away as I take off the masking tape to move onto the next panel as well.

Sorry for random caps/numbers in posts. For some reason I can't type on the tablet tonight

If you're wanting to get on with it straight away, if it's a fairly simple shape rather than peeling the masking tape off the card can you not just trim it back to the edge of the template with scissors and re tape it on to the next piece of fabric?

I need the edges to match as closely as they can - there's a diamond between each repeat, half on one template and the other half on the other. I need to wait for another fabric marker to turn up anyway so no great rush.

I'll do some cutting and experimenting tomorrow and see how I get on.

I always use(d) Mylar. Flexible, thin, strong and you can wash the paint off when it builds up.

See here for a range of template-plastic designed for stencils for fabric
www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/templates.html.