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Twill tape for boning channels - bad idea! I learned this the hard way
megplebani Advanced MA USA Member since 8/24/06 Posts: 85	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/16/10 9:36 AM So more as a cautionary tale, as I've now learned through "trial and error"...1/2 twill tape does not make good boning channels on formalwear (I'm using spiral steel bones). I'm making a fitted trumpet/mermaid style gown and put boning in the gown to give it structure as well as to keep my neckline in the shape I want. Well, after hours of catch-stitching seam allowances and boning channels to the underlining, inserting boning, stitching the channels closed...(you get my drift, lots of work)...I put the dress on to double check my marks for the waist stay and once I took the dress off....I had about 1/2 the bones sticking out of the bottoms of the boning channels. Argh!!!! Turns out that the twill tape weave is too lose, resulting on the threads pulling up through the stitches, thus shredding the bottom of the channels. It happened even on the channels where I had ample twill tape below the stitches on the bottom of the casing. (Sorry for no pictures, I was too irritated last night to photograph...promise I'll post some when I post the review). Oh, did I mention I'm leaving for a cruise Saturday morning and this dress is for one of the formal nights?? I was just about to put the lining and zipper in too. Grrr. So, I ripped all the boning channels out. Then did the correct thing and made new channels out of organza and stitched those to flannel so that I can put them back in the dress tonight and hopefully pick up where I left off yesterday with my waist stay. So word for the wise...twill tape is a bad idea for boning channels!! ------ Megan Owner, La Robe Couture
Rybe Intermediate OR USA Member since 2/18/09 Posts: 336	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/16/10 3:02 PM Good to know, and eek! I'm sorry that happened to you! So much work! I never would have thought of that.
MarthaA24   Advanced CA USA Member since 4/4/08 Posts: 682	Login to reply to this post In reply to megplebani Like this post Date: 6/16/10 7:54 PM With my DD's wedding dress, the place where I bought the spiral steel boning & plastic boning as I used a combination also sold "tape" for the bones to slip into. It wasn't that thick and had no problems with bones coming out. Sorry to hear about your twill tape ordeal. Hope you have a wonderful cruise. ------ Martha
Silknmore   Advanced WI USA Member since 9/30/06 Posts: 251	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/16/10 8:50 PM Oh, no. What a disappointment. I just finished putting about 10 strips of boning into my daughter's dress. At first I used plastic boning and the channel that came with it, however you could see the outline of the boning through the outside of the dress. Grrrh. For the second plan, I switched to metal boning and I purchased 1/2" cotton satin ribbon from Britex Fabrics in San Francisco as I happened to be there. This ribbon was fairly dense, strong and quite thin. It worked very well. The dress is on my blog - soon I'll post some of the tips on making it as I want to share the pain with others! Good luck Annette ------ Silknmore http://fabricateandmira.wordpress.com/
MissCelie   MD USA Member since 8/24/02 Posts: 2126 Board Moderator	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/16/10 9:14 PM Hmmm. That's too badI've used spiral steel on two form fitting formal dresses with the twill tape casing. Did you also use the 'end caps' for the boning? That's what I used to prevent the jagged edges from sticking out. ------ Cidell www.missceliespants.com
FxMonroe23 Intermediate VA USA Member since 6/15/10 Posts: 12	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/10 11:44 AM I've had this problem too! I made a set of stays (a 1700s corset) for some living history stuff, using spiral steel boning with this super loose weave cotton tape to bind the tops of the channels...and guess what happened! I spent the day getting pinched all over by rogue strips of boning, then pulling them out one by one...while wearing the stays! There was no boning in the garment at all by the end of the day, eek! I've since moved on to strips of leather, nothing gets through those. Cidell is right, having the endcaps on helps with this problem too! Lea -- Edited on 6/18/10 11:44 AM --
goodworks1   Advanced IL USA Member since 7/19/03 Posts: 3300	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/10 12:16 PM Ouch! I wonder if you could have reinforced just the ends of the boning channels instead of pulling out the whole channel... Thanks for that photo, MissCelie. It's true about the thousand words/picture thing. At least for me. ------ blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com
Maripat   Advanced OH USA Member since 10/11/08 Posts: 459	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/10 2:10 PM Wow, thanks for this knowledge. I am a fan of learning from other people's mistakes Too often, I have to learn from my own, so thanks again for the heads up. I actually used zip ties for DD wedding gown boning (think plastic police handcuffs). They do have a rough edge, though, since you have to cut them to fit. ------ "You are in charge of your own ride!" LearningAlterations.com
delirium Intermediate UNITED KINGDOM Member since 3/31/04 Posts: 178	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/27/10 6:00 PM Wow, that's unfortunate! I'm a corsetmaker and I regularly use twill tape for bone casings. I can't say I've had a problem. You can get purpose made bone casing tape that is a dense strong weave with allowance for stitching. Did you use the end caps MissCelie posted above? As without them the bones will work their way through pretty much anything. The golden rule with any type of boning - pay careful attention to the ends. Metal boning should be capped if it's spiral, filed and tipped if it's flat sprung steel. Plastic should be filed and singed, even rigilene (especially rigilene!) Otherwise you'll get discomfort at best, actually hurt at worst.
guillorypr   Advanced MD USA Member since 3/11/03 Posts: 394	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/27/10 8:00 PM I was also going to say what deliruim mentioned, I would buy the casing tape specifically. I have made several period corsets and stays, I don't use the casing,, but I am using a solid lining material (usually cotton duck) so that holds up quite well. If I was using boning more for structural support of the garment, I would use the casing tape.

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