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| I need some help and I hope someone out there may have a suggestion or two or three. I'm making my daughter's wedding veil. I am using 54" sparkle illusion. The veil will be bordered with 1/2 inch nylon organdy (translucent/transparent) ribbon. By using a universal 60/8 needle and fine Coats & Clark sewing thread I can make a nice joining except around curves. I have been unable to to sew a smooth curve joining the illusion and the ribbon.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried overlapping the illusion and hand feeding the two pieces. I have tried using Lite Steam-A-Seam2, but I can't get a smooth application on the ribbon.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Mariane |
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Veteran
Posts: 158
 
Location: Cincinnati, OH | Have you tried pressing the curved area of the veil with a fabric finish or light spray starch? Perhaps with the veil fabric stiffened a bit, the organdy (I trust this is on the bias) will mold to the curve better.
Just a thought. Good luck!
Julie |
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Expert
Posts: 1895
 
Location: Miami, Florida | Mariane, I can suggest 2 things that "might" work. First, shorten your stitch length around the curve and sew SLOWLY. Second, change to a sharper needle like a microtex or a quilting needle size 70/10 or 75/11. Just thought of one more thing - use a 3/8" seam allowance instead of a 5/8" seam allowance. Good luck, Susan
Edited by Susan in Miami 2011-04-30 11:49 PM
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| Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I didn't explain myself enough. I am using purchased 1/2 inch organdy ribbon and I don't think it was cut on the bias because the edges don't really stretch out. I am sewing the very left edge of the ribbon at the 1/2 inch mark of the illusion with 1.5mm stitch length. I plan to trim off the overlap. The ribbon has a slightly raised edge that I am stitching on/next to. I tried stitching in the middle of the ribbon, but it splits the ribbon and the stitching looks unseemly. I will try changing to a microtex needle and the spray starch. It is good that illusion is so cheap. I can try lots of different ideas on multiple samples. I have until August.
Thanks again.
Mariane
Edited by Mariane 2011-05-01 9:28 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1985
Location: Norman,OK | I really think that you are trying to force two fabrics to do what they were not designed to do. The ribbon is woven to stay straight. THere might be a thread along the edge-- the ridge you are describing--- that can be pulled and eased to help the ribbon curve, if not I would look for another edge finish. And frankly even if you can get it to curve it might not be pretty. Coopie |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 509
| I think Coopie is right. Straight edge organdy ribbon and synthetic organza are both pretty stiff and probably won't conform to a curve. You might try hand stitching a sample, while taking little tucks. Since you have until August, hand stitching miles of veiling might not drive you too crazy... 
Good luck, Marilyn
P.S. What about finding a bias cut silk ribbon that would go around curves? |
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| Just a thought. I assume you are doing tests to see if this is working - and its not. Are you using the same size curve? If the curve has a large enough radius the ribbon should go on as a straight line.
Nancy in Wy |
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| The organdy ribbon doesn't really want to stretch around the curve. I may try to lengthen the curve to make it straighter. I'm also going to try to steam press the ribbon to see if I can get it to curve. The ribbon is inexpensive enough that I can play around.
Luckily she does not want a cathedral length veil.  She wants fingertip length and really had her heart set on this ribbon. She likes the translucent/transparent look of it. I may look around for some silk bias ribbon. Anyone have any online suggestions on where to look? I'm pretty much limited to Joann's and Hancock's locally.
Mariane
Edited by Mariane 2011-05-01 1:44 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 208
Location: Southern Illinois | Perhaps you need to rethink how the veil is cut. Does the veil have two layers? Does the ribbon get gathered into where the veil attaches to the comb? Can you get the same ribbon in 1/4". I have put straight grain satin ribbon onto a veil before. But. . it was narrow ribbon. The wider the ribbon, the more it wants to lay straight.
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| Thanks everyone. Barbie, the veil is a single layer with no blusher. It will be gathered into a comb. I have not yet progressed to that stage. I am trying a couple of things right now. I have changed to a microtex needle. I may be able to stretch the ribbon a little using steam. To my surprise neither the veil nor the ribbon melted with the application of steam. Right now I'm working on a full scale sample for her first dress fitting next week. I'll definitely post a picture of the final results.
Mariane |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 418
| Even though most veils are curved, they don't HAVE to be! Cut it with square edges, or in a modified octagonal shape and miter the corners of the ribbon. OR look for a trim that will curve. About the only flat woven ribbon that will curve is petersham or milliner's ribbon. It looks like grosgrain ribbon but has sawtooth edges. I've made over 700 hats and veils and did a train length veil with square edges a few years ago. |
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Member
Posts: 2468
Location: Cincinnati, OH | Mariane, not to make assumptions here, but is the ribbon really meant for garment sewing? Sadly, most of the ribbon sold today, especially at places like Joann's, is craft ribbon, and not made well enough for your purpose.
My daughter is getting married in November, so I'm watching this discussion avidly!  |
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Tech Support
Location: Colorado Springs, CO | When pressing delicate fabrics I have a "teflon shoe" that goes over my iron. This lets me use higher heat and steam and not damage the fabric. |
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Veteran
Posts: 196
Location: Holyoke, MA | There's a site that carries silk ribbons . I read that they are cut on the bias which would give great results for the edge of a veil. It's www.artemisinc.com. Also M&Jtrims.com should have a something better than what you can find at Joanns. And you could try yarn shops. Sue |
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| Thanks for the continuing comments. I agree that the organdy ribbon from Joann's is not high quality. I'm not terribly satisfied with the attaching of the ribbon to the illusion on the mock up. She has her first dress fitting next Saturday and I want to have the mock up totally available to check width, length, and the attachment to the hair comb.
I got a sample of white bias cut silk ribbon from M&J Trims and I'll check out Artemis. The main problem is that although the organdy ribbon is very inexpensive (and probably designed for craft work rather than sewing as you said) she likes the transparent and translucent look of it. The silk ribbon that I have seen has been opaque rather than transparent. I'll just continue looking. I still have 3 months.
Well, she is the bride and I will cater to what she wants.
Mariane |
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Member
Posts: 2468
Location: Cincinnati, OH | Mariane, do you know what horsehair looks like? It's bias, and would probably do what you want it to do, plus it would give the edges more body. And it comes in very narrow widths. I wonder if that would work? |
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Member
Posts: 2468
Location: Cincinnati, OH | Hunh. Did the "delete post" button go somewhere? I made a double post and tried to delete it, but no button.
Sorry to post this off-topic.
Edited by Karen Maslowski 2011-05-15 5:21 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 196
Location: Holyoke, MA | Another thought is to buy a couple of yards of sparkle poly organza, which will give the desired look. Cut a very narrow strip using a rotary cutter or serger blade. Ideally it should be cut on the true bias, but you can get away with "sort of bias" and see how long a piece you can from it. You may only need to seam it once, if at all, depending on the veil size. ( and if sparkle isn't the desired look, go for silk organza. It will at least be transparent and easier to work with.) |
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| Karen,
I have never worked with horsehair and have never even held it. I'll check into it. At this point I'm open to any and all suggestions. Since this is my gift to her I can spend as much money on samples as I want and don't have to account to anyone regarding my "mad money."
Mariane |
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| Sue,
I check out both sparkle organza and silk organza. I'll need an edge finish won't I even if I do a bias cut?
Mariane |
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Expert
Posts: 1895
Location: Miami, Florida | You could do a serger rolled hem but, because it is bias, you will need something like liquid stabilizer on the edges to be serged. Otherwise the rolled hem will pull off of the sheer fabric. Susan |
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Veteran
Posts: 196
Location: Holyoke, MA | If it's on the bias, ( or sort of) , it shouldn't really fray. How much wear and tear will it get anyway? Test it and see. And if need be a little Fray Check on the edges should work. |
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Veteran
Posts: 294
Location: Newark, Delaware | FWIW, it may depend on where your daughter places the comb in her hair. Ten years ago I did a similar style veil for my daughter on a comb that was placed in the back of her head just below the hair piled on top of the head. The organza ribbon trim repeated the trim on the sheer overskirt of an otherwise completely plain purchased dress. Because my father died just before the wedding, a friend actually did the sewing of the organza ribbon on the veil I had cut out. The ribbon did not lay real flat around the curves when looked at flat. (I'm not sure how the wide the sheer organza Joanns ribbon was, it might have been closer to an inch.) However, once the veil was gathered to the ribbon comb, there was so much veil that the defects in how the ribbon went around the rounded bottom corners was undetectable. Nothing showed up in the close up photos either since the curves were all at the bottom of the veil, not near the face. Hopefully your test will show the same thing: that it doesn't need to be perfect. |
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| I don't know what your date is on this, but I wonder about getting some silk charmeuse in a very light weight, making bias binding out of it in a narrow width and then applying that like ribbon. You would get the ribbon like effect and bias, and it's readily available. |
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| Current update. Martina really, really likes the ribbon on the veil. She has now decided she wants a 2-tier veil (no blusher). So, I have cut out 2 good veils and am now applying the ribbon. As Karen in Delaware says with all the gathers you don't see the imperfections in the ribbon attachment.
I'll keep everyone updated and post a picture of the final product.
Mariane |
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Wedding Veil
