I have two things left to do before the purple kirtle is FINISHED! Huzzah! I have to tack down the bodice lining... and hem the skirt.
I want to stiffen the hem, so after studying up on my options, I decided to go with horsehair braid. I bought a roll of 4" HB, intending to fully encase the HB in the hem allowance... but it turns out that my skirts aren't quite long enough for that deep a hem. I'm now thinking of switching to 2" or smaller braid, and I'm wondering how that will look. The skirts aren't heavy--a middle-weight cotton-blend damask--but I've never used HB before so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. Most of what I see in the store is 1/2" braid; is that what's typically used in bridal gowns? It seems so narrow for such a full skirt.
This Burda tutorial (http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/create-fullness-in-skirt-hem) makes a casing for the braid, which would save me some hem length, but it looks fussy.
Ok, so that wasn't so much questions as indecision. Anyone want to weigh in on my horsehair braid dilemma?
Gramercy!!
I would scrap using the Horsehair braid all together, gem.
Being that your fabric is a middleweight Damask, a 2" hem should provide enough weight for a nicer, cleaner hem finish.
I was thinking this too. Horsehair is really only any use on lighter fabrics.