I'm attempting my first renaissance-ish peasant dress. It's very simple, with just two bits of cable-tie boning to keep the fabric around the lacing holes straight. I can see a potential problem with the ends of the boning eventually wearing through the fabric at these points, especially as it's tumbling in the washing machine. Should I be reinforcing the fabric at these points in some way, and/or should I take the boning out to wash the dress?
No, boning should not be removable.
For duct ties, take a filing brush (like you'd use for you nails) or a sandpaper sponge (home depot/lowes) and file the ends of the duct tie. Once you get it to a rounded shape, it should be like your nails - strong but won't tear through the fabric.
Quote from: isabelladangelo on December 27, 2013, 05:52:06 PM
No, boning should not be removable.
For duct ties, take a filing brush (like you'd use for you nails) or a sandpaper sponge (home depot/lowes) and file the ends of the duct tie. Once you get it to a rounded shape, it should be like your nails - strong but won't tear through the fabric.
Also, after you round off and file the ends, melt the plastic a little using a lighter to remove any rough patches.
The dress should be dried flat, or hung up to dry. No tumble drying is needed.
(shrug) I dry a lot of my garb in the dryer. Linen comes out softer and is easier to iron. I also *steam* pretty much all of my garb in the dryer, on high with a wet towel. Everything is boned with cable ties, and they do fine. :)
I use my Dremel to round down the edges--whatever you have handy works!
I've never burned the ends and never had an issue. Also, you really shouldn't burn plastic, the fumes are really bad for you.
As for drying, it depends on the garment. Some end up in the dryer, some end up being a shower curtain for a few hours. :-)
Quote from: isabelladangelo on December 29, 2013, 05:34:35 PM
I've never burned the ends and never had an issue. Also, you really shouldn't burn plastic, the fumes are really bad for you.
As for drying, it depends on the garment. Some end up in the dryer, some end up being a shower curtain for a few hours. :-)
Same here.