Thread: broken wings-keeping the sticks in place

Have you had the sticks in your wings poke out the bottom? They wear through the fabric and rip right through on all mine. I put hot glue on the bottoms where the sticks are and that seems to work, but it's hokey. Just sewing it up doesn't work as the fabric ends up ripping. Any other ideas?
Am I unusually hard on my wings?
thanks!

I found that the sticks in my wings hurt my hands, and when I took the sticks out I found that they are plastic pipe which is very roughly cut, with little spiky bits sticking out. I've smoothed the edges out and bound them with tape . I wonder if this might be what is tearing your wings?



QUOTE=SandraDances;277077]Have you had the sticks in your wings poke out the bottom? They wedar through the fabric and rip right through on all mine. I put hot glue on the bottoms where the sticks are and that seems to work, but it's hokey. Just sewing it up doesn't work as the fabric ends up ripping. Any other ideas?
Am I unusually hard on my wings?
thanks![/QUOTE]

mine were also plastic pipe wrapped in a slightly plastified white paper. found that out when one of the sticks broke..
i took them out of the wing by the opposite end (one near your neck) and replaced them with bits of balsa wood, approx the same diameter and cut to right length. i smoothed down the ends with sandpaper and painted the wood white.
so far so good, the ends are very smooth, the wood is really light, it's quite pleasant to work with!

now, for yours which are already worn at the fabric, i'm not too sure what to suggest, considering you tried glue and sewing and neither work... what are your wings made of? lame or organza?

First off, if your "sticks" are in reality black or grey pvc pipe, THROW THEM AWAY. They are bulky and inflexible, and will break if you hit them against something.

Go to your local hardware store and get replacement blind turners, usually available for a couple of dollars each. These are clear and flexible, allowing for some lovely wing flutters, and they don't break as easily if you happen to hit your wings on a low-hanging ceiling or spotlight.

Then, open your pocket down at the end of your wings. You may reinforce the wing pocket at the end with a piece of felt, the soft side of a piece of velcro, or a small piece of soft leather, folded over to make a pocket large enough for the end of your stick to slide into, and then stitched. Stitch the stick sleeve into the end of your wings, slide your blind turner down into the little pocket, and make sure the entire seam down the length of the stick pocket is stitched closed (you may decide to leave the pocket unstitched at the top so that you can easily remove your sticks for packing or replacement).

You can also glue a piece of felt to the opposite end of the sticks, to help keep them from wearing through the fabric at the end where they are gripped.

Does this help?

This has happened to me with both lame and organze. I replace my sticks with those window blind twisty-stick things that you get at the hardware store because I like that they are not stiff. They are very smooth.

I use blu tac after the "stick poke" thing has happened. It works well it keeps the fabric in place. I put it between the fabric and the end of the plastic stick. All my wings have a lightweight plastic pole inside.Sometimes it depends on the fabric other times on holding your sticks so that there is too much tension along the top can lead to the dreaded "stick poke". I have a set of 10 wings I use for workshops and I find the organza wings the worst at this. A lot of my wings which are all used and reused by beginner wings students are mended with blu tac it works really well.

Ayshe sells the rods :: Ayshe :: Passion Bellydance :: Wings of Ayshe :: Ayshe is New York dance artist performing belly dance, Indian dance and fusion styles in theaters, nightlife venues, for private and corporate events. Ayshe designs and produces "Wings of Isis" I bought a set at raks east for $7.00 way better than wooden rods. And they work better on my wings. I just undid the hem on the bottom inserted the rods and re-sewed the ends.

Alrana

What is blu tac?

I think putting felt in will be the best option. Thanks!

blu tac is that sticky play-dough like stuff that's used to put posters (or whatnot) up on walls without anything visible being used (like tacks or tape)
Blu-Tack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They sell it as handi-tak at your local craft or hardware store,but in yellow same stuff as blu-tack

Alrana