Looking For Help With Boning From Some Garment Sewers
 

I took a break from quilting today so that I could work on my daughter's costume for dance class. The pattern instructed to insert boning into a casing in the hem. However, the boning was in a tight roll in the package, so when I inserted it into the casing, it tried to go back to that tight roll. How do I reform it so that it will make her hem go out like a bell?

I worked with boning for a nursing cover, so it was only about a 10" piece, but I just pulled it out a few times and worked it in the opposite direction a little to loosen it up. Not sure if that would work for your project though.

I think your method of loosing it up would depend on what material it is constructed from and you didn't say. Is it typical nylon boning or cloth covered wire, or what?

How about horsehair braid? I've never used it, but I'm thinking it might work.

can you hang the boning? Put the piece over a hanger and weight the two ends with maybe a clip clothes pin and something attached to hold it down...
I have only worked with smaller pieces of it...so have no real experince with longer lengths.

Whoops, should have clarified. The only kind of boning that Joann's had was this cloth covered plastic boning. It instructed to remove the casing that the boning was in and then insert it. This is my first time working with boning, so I didn't even know there ws other types of boning. I just bought whatever Joann's had.

This MAY help, depending upon how strong/thick the plastic is. Try aiming a hair dryer at it, to soften the plastic. At the same time, "stretch" it so that the original curve relaxes. Hold it "open" until it cools. You don't want to take out all of the curve, so just do it a bit at a time.

I agree with Nessie, you will need to heat the plastic to relax the curve. A pain in the neck but doable.

Well, I don't have a traditional blow dryer, but I do have an embossing dryer. It's temperatures are much higher than a normal blow dryer, though. I'll try holding it further away and then try to form it. Thanks for the help!

Remove the boning from the casing and soak it in a bowl of boiling or very hot water for a few minutes. This should soften it enough for you to straighten it.

Oh, I should've asked this question before I sewed it into the costume. :-( It's already sewn in, but if nothing else works, I might have to do that. I've tried bending it the opposite way and that didn't last long and now I'm having trouble finding the embossing heater that I have. :-(

I always used horsehair braid for hems - the only place I ever used boning was for structure in the bodice - usually for strapless gowns. That being said, as someone else suggested - heat the boning & hang it until it relaxes. I don't know if it is still availabe but at one time you could buy boning that had a casing with a sewable edge. You didn't have to make a casing in the garment for it. That was the "easy, peasy" way to go. Many of the things you needed for fashion sewing are no longer available. Most are for craft & quilting applications now

hugs
Shirley in Indiana

I think because I live in the sticks, so to speak, that horsehair braid probably isn't available in my area. There wasn't any in my local Joann's, but that's a pretty small store. I finally heated it enough with my crafting gun to the point where I could mold it. The dress has been hanging over night and it's still holding it's shape so I'm crossing my finger.

I agree: drop it into hot water and then put on a towel and weight it down until it cools. You may have to do this more than once.

If your other method doesn't work, fish line or the plastic line used for grass trimmers could be inserted in the hem.

way back when i was a teenager,,,,we wore can-cans. i sewed a casing in the hem of a full wide slip and inserted a heavy wire the telephone men left by the pole after a repair. then i wore my can-cans on top of the slip. no one could get near me. it worked great.lol

Here she is! I used the heating tool and had the whole thing perfect! Then, when she put it on, it inverted in the front again. :( Either way, she loved it and didn't mind it. I can't heat it anymore because of the feather trim, but I don't think she minds. Next time, I'll heat it before it goes into the hem.

Awwww! She's adorable! :)

Thanks so much!!