Thread: Advice on beaded material

I have a completely sequined and beaded dress that I'm going to use as the base for a costume. Anyone have any dos and don't on cutting into beaded fabric?

You can put a line of fray check along the cutting line, let that dry, then cut. Helps keeps beeds and sequins from falling off.

I just hacked away at mine as I am not really sure where the lines will fall in the end. When I do start cutting to shape, I just use a line of superglue to stop it all from ending up on the carpet. Of course, the edge with the glue is hidden.

ETA: I should mention that mine was not fully or heavily beaded. It just has veins of beading running around in a haphazard way. If it is covered in beading, I would use the frey stuff the first time around and cut carefully.

I pull off all the beads/sequins just inside the seam allowance, and knotted the thread (on the fabric underside), using a very small crochet hook.
Fray check the knot.
I've also stitched the last few beads closest to where I'm going to cut, but sometimes you can't get the extra thread and needle through the beads, because the original thread is still in them.
I hope that made sense.

Yes it made perfect sense gothique.

Thank you ladies for all your tips!

You can also use that iron-on fusing tape. Just remember to use wax paper between the fabric/tape and your iron--or you might end up with a sticky iron. Yuck.

If you use iron-fusing materials be aware you usually need to use a fairly hot iron. You might want to test the heat setting against an inconspicuous area of the base fabric in case the heat setting melts the fabric. Also too much heat can cause glass beads to become fragile so handle carefully until the beads are cool.

In the past, I have had success running scotch tape along the line prior to cutting, and for "scatter" patterns of embroidery this has worked well.

I also cut the pieces larger than necessary (same shape but with a generaous "border") and that seems to help compensate.

I knwo I'm speaking to the choir, btu I encourage you not to be scared of the fabric. I used to have a GORGEOUS vintage ivory dress, completely beaded in silver, cream and pearls. When I made it into a bra and skirt it was not so scary as I expected. But that first cut IS terrifying!

Hmm all good suggestions...now which to use lol! Thank you ladies so much.