Aaaarrrgggghhhhh no - I have bought the worst thing possible for the job; it's going back

[KatyMac]

DD wants a curly hem; so after extensive research on google off I pop the the fishing shop to buy heavy weight fishing line

I bought really thick fishing line as advised - got it home & it's 'memory free' so it won't stay in curls hits head on table

you can get a curley hemline on T-shrt material using a tight zig zag and stretching the fabric as you sew along the raw edge....

It's for a Latin dress - so more likely to be Georgette or Organza than Tee-shirt; but I'll remember that for next time

Have you wrapped it around a card tube & microwaved it for 10 - 20 sec to mould the ring shapes ?? -

If thats been tried & failed, then on georgette especially you CAN flute a hem into curls without using wire or line, needs to be cut on the bias though - you then just need to pull it VERY taut as it goes under the machine foot, so that you are stretching the hem edge as you sew to the max -

if you either roll hem it on your over locker, or zig zig it several times over the same hem, you will end up with a stretched hem that is stiffened at the edge by the stitching & will naturally fall into curls

HTH Katie

& it would work even better on a straight cut jersey mesh

Unfortunately it's the wrong stuff as "Unlike regular monofilament that takes a set and springs off the reel in coils" it, apparently doesn't - it's specially made that way

So it's going back tomorrow

& I'll buy the stuff that does "spring off the reel in coils"

But yes I hope to do the coiling (well get DH too) then microwave or hot water

I want fairly tight curls so I was thinking the inside of a sheet of pre-rolled icing (about 2cms)

Umm 3 layers, full circles, bottom yellow with yellow thread, then pink with yellow thread, finally yellow with pink thread......do you think?

& should I put net underneath?

Sounds great, though personally I would contrast the thread colour on all the skirt layers, not just the top 2

& Yes, definitely put net underneath

the other way to get the sort of effect you want, with a contrast hem is to bias bind the hem, again really stretching as you go & keep the weight on your machine foot as heavy as it will go

Really? All contrast? have I shown you the dress?

Bias Binding? Oh I'm confused now

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=flamenco+hem+dress+with+binding&start=111&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1104&bih=560&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsb&tbnid=6AqYxAIlEPNjGM:&imgrefurl=www.carriebs.com/petticoats-sam-page-3.html&docid=oRCUWrjn6a5lAM&imgurl=www.carriebs.com/640LB_500px.gif&w=500&h=357&ei=SLPbT9CtOJKo8QOqw73LCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=700&vpy=41&dur=2818&hovh=190&hovw=266&tx=155&ty=107&sig=112436539906621374200&page=7&tbnh=149&tbnw=208&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:111,i:107" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">THIS SORT OF THING

Hope that link comes up as a photo of a skirt with flamenco bound hem

That is gorgeous - she would love that

But I have georgette, that won't work surely?

& I'm sure I don't have enough

I was thinking a bit like this but smaller

It would work fine on georgette - use a contrast satin bias binding

& just bind your original skirt idea, you don't need to copy the whole skirt in the photo, just used it as a guide for getting a bound fluted curl hem

HERE

No wire, just godets & satin bind

Oh

I'm thinking

I wonder how many layers I could get out of my fabric

Do they have to be different lengths, I wonder......

BTW I may buy that underskirt for the other dress I am struggling with in white with silver edges

Now I'm confused

The dress is on my prfile it's towards the bottom & is yellow & pink; the Ballroom skirt is fine, but we made a hash of the Latin, so are replacing it

What should I do?

I have 2m of pink & 1.5m of yellow and 2m of net

Oh poo, I'm really confused

I haven't the head for working out figures & pattrns in my head ATM, but yes it can be similar lengths layered up, but needs to be cut on the curve - the more curve the better - you could get away more panels with seams IYSWIM - that would save on cloth as you need a lot for full circle

hope thats making sense

Maybe - I'll draw it tomorrow I think

& today I learnt how to do circular flounces/ruffles - I think they will work

Whoopie!!!!!!

Fantastic :)

I may just do 2 flounces or maybe 4 - I'll see how much material I have

I think I'll put it on it's own waist band & just wear the top over it

Sounds like a good idea to do it as a skirt, you might get more use out of it -

a good tip though, would be to make up the whole skirt & bind the hem last -

Give it a good hard shake & then hang it up overnight & then have DD try it on the next day & reset the hem with pins & a long ruler - the fabric is going to drop at the bias sides, so even though its cut evenly, it won't stay that way, so leveling the hem gives you nice neat even founces - HTH

Maybe - but if I am doing the fishing line hem will it matter?

I'm saving the binding for another skirt I want to do, I think - the white latin on my profile & I'll use the structured hem for this one

Maybe?

It depends, but mostly - YES - if you are cutting your own pattern for a circle skirt, or even a bought one, parts of the circle are going to sit on the bias grain - bias grain will stretch more & therefore will "drop" making that part of the skirt longer that the bits that sit on the straight grain IYSWIM

Different fabrics will give more, some less so, so it really depends on the cloth, but the fabrics with the most give, these are the fabrics such as georgette, which also give the best ruffles, as the hem will also stretch well but will likely "drop" quite a bit in length on the bias grain

Sooo - if for example - if you cut a circle that is say 30cm in length all round - the bias grain could drop by say 3/4cm, making the sides of your skirt longer than the middle by 3/4cm - this will look even worse if you have several layers all coming up at different lengths - IYSWIM - Levelling your hem after hanging over night, solves this problem & gives neat even length layers to your skirt.

You can also cut "ruffles" these are shaped like spirals, so you get several bias grain areas around the hem, these are less likely to need levelling, as it wont be so obvious as a couple of inches bias, next to a couple of inches straight grain repeating around the hem - but these are not easy patterns to make yourself, as working out the narrower waist measurement or panel measurement to fit a spiral with the needed wider hem measurement takes a lot of skill to work out - I know experienced pattern cutters who would struggle with this sort of pattern, so unless you buy a ruffle pattern I wouldn't recommend this as a solution

Goodness

I thought all the ups & downs of the fishing line would make it immaterial

Ah well - I will hang it up as you have suggested

Spirals are a no-no

sadly not Katy - if anything the added weight to the hem could make it drop more and it could ruin the effect, you could well end up with a top skirt layer dropping at the sides for example & hiding the ruffles of the underskirt - so hanging/shaking out is definitely best