Thread: I will never gripe about the price of fringe again!

Like the title says, I will never gripe about the price of fringe again!

A good dancemate of mine (Devi Safir) has this gorgeous Turkish set that of course has the prerequisite monster fringe that nearly goes to the knees. She heard through the grapevine that I work on costumes so she asked me to shorten it to 4". Always up for a challenge, I said 'Sure!'.

My first attempt wasn't successful (at least in my opinion). I tried to clip the ends of the fringe, remove the necessary number of beads, and knot the ends. Being a perfectionist, I didn't like the result. So, I removed ALL the fringe.

20 hours later, I've managed to bead almost four feet of 4" fringe.

So, now that I'm a fringemaster, here's a few tips for you:

Buy LOTS of beading needles. Those little suckers bend easily.

Use very good lighting, very helpful to avoid eye strain.

Keep a pair of needlenose pliers handy: they're great for clipping apart beads that are stuck together and for pulling stubborn needles through bead strands.

Use good thread: my favorite is upholstery thread, though the colors available are limited.

Put your beads in a shallow bowl and dip your needle into it through the upper layers of beads: you'd be surprised how quickly your needle is 'loaded'.

If at all possible, keep the cat away from the project. My arthritic cat insists on gracelessly flopping himself right smack in the middle of everything. EVERYTHING.

Honestly I had alot of fun with this project and now I'm not afraid of refringing now. So ladies (and gentlemen), don't let costumes intimidate you: if you dive in you'll be surprised what you're capable of. ..g.:

Now, time to start rebuilding that Turkish airport special, fringe included!

Great tips! Thank you for sharing.

I don't even know how much fringe costs. Well I know how much a string of it costs in Cairo but not here.

Oh you brave woman. I too do costume work. I've had clients ask me to do the same thing and I've refused. There's no way they can pay me enough to go through it. I've done some fringe work on my own costumes, but even that has been limited. The price of fringe is worth every penny not to have to string it yourself.

20 hours later, I've managed to bead almost four feet of 4" fringe.

Wow...you are fast! I dump a big ol bunch of beads into my lap when I have on a galabeya (my sanctuary in a sack). I then just rapidly make circles with my wrist while dipping the needle into the globule of loose beads between my thighs. 3 dips...the needle is full. You just have to keep the globule well stocked. The smaller it gets, the fewer beads will be in the right position for an "accidental" loading. Bead spinner...has anyone tried one?

I also have an arthritic cat who is always flopping on my beading supplies. : >
Bead spinners could be helpful: Seed Bead Spinner Beadspinner Stringing Tool

I second the bead spinner recommendation- I love mine!!! fill the needle once & you've got up to 6" in no time- just use big enough, regularly sized beads- the cheaper beads with an occasional tiny hole makes spinning more frustrating than using the short needles. & you can't do patterns so well, but for single toned, it's great!

Wow, you are to be commended for taking on that task! Last year I bought a low-priced Turkish fringe monster on eBay. This is the bedlah before I altered the fringe:





And this is it after I shortened the fringe (and added center belly drape fringe):



What I did was take each strand of long fringe and sew it onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon. When all of the strands were attached I flipped it up to make looped fringe. The nice thing about it, besides shortening it, was that each strand of fringe was tipped with an inch or so of larger beads, which made a nice effect when they were all sewed together onto the ribbon. I am happy with the way it turned out and though it took awhile I think it was nothing compared to completely restringing all of the beads.

Good luck with your project, hope Devi has deep pockets, is she paying you by the hour? ..l;, I know her well, my band LOVES to play music for her dancing.

I had the same thing in mind to shorten a fringe I think it's too long(8") and I wanted to make it 4" I was going to do the same remove some and knot the ends, you say didn't work?

I also recommend a bead spinner. They save so much time! I made a bedlah with all my own fringe before I discovered bead spinners. When I make fringe, I get a really long piece of thread doubled over, knot, bead the fringe, tie to a ribbon, scoot over about ¼” and tie another knot, bead down for a second piece of fringe, and then knot.

For the last two bedlahs I made, I just got the fringe off eBay. I still had to bead a few extra inches, but it saved so much time.

Originally Posted by dunyah

...take each strand of long fringe and sew it onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon. When all of the strands were attached I flipped it up to make looped fringe. The nice thing about it, besides shortening it, was that each strand of fringe was tipped with an inch or so of larger beads...

This is so inspiring. I am going to try this on my Turkish belt with LONG (the reason I don't wear anymore) fringe. Try to visualize your procedure, am confused about the ribbon flipping part. Would you tell me again where you attach the ribbon to? Thanks so much for your help.

In addition, do you ladies know of any place where I can get fringe that is less than 4"? I am 5'2" and 4" fringe is too long.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by NishaDance

This is so inspiring. I am going to try this on my Turkish belt with LONG (the reason I don't wear anymore) fringe. Try to visualize your procedure, am confused about the ribbon flipping part. Would you tell me again where you attach the ribbon to? Thanks so much for your help.

In addition, do you ladies know of any place where I can get fringe that is less than 4"? I am 5'2" and 4" fringe is too long.

Thanks.

I just sewed the end of each strand onto the grosgrain ribbon, lining them up so that they were even. I may have had to cut away part of the ribbon after I was done, if it was too wide, I can't remember. If so, use fray check on the cut edge. Try to get ribbon that is the same width as the chunkier beads on the end of the strands, if you have those. I don't have a good photo of the process, but once you have the costume in your hands I think you will probably see how it would work. You want to attach the fringe so that when you flip up the ribbon to attach it to the costume, the beaded portion is showing, not the underside of the ribbon with all your stitches. So if the fringe is hanging straight down with the ribbon sewed to it, the back of the ribbon with all the stitches will be facing out. When you bring it up so that the beads are showing, it creates looped fringe. If you look closely at the after photos, you can see what looks like a line of silver trim about an inch wide along the top of the fringe - that is the chunkier fringe tips sewed onto the ribbon, then the ribbon sewed onto the costume. Luckily those Turkish costumes are easy to sew through.

I was trying to figure out how to use short sections of the ribbon to make overlapping loops, kind of like a Great Loops costume (only it wouldn't be exactly like that because those loops are constructed of different lengths of fringe), but I never got around to trying that.

Hope this makes sense.

I got it. What about the part of the fringe at both ends of the belt, the shorter part. Shall I leave them or shall I do the whole thing up?

Originally Posted by NishaDance

I got it. What about the part of the fringe at both ends of the belt, the shorter part. Shall I leave them or shall I do the whole thing up?

I'm pretty sure that I did all of the fringe.

I wouldnt even begin to know where to start in making my own fringe! Good on you for doing it :)

I have been making my own costumes and my own fringes for several years now, as I always was too peeky about the fringes you could buy ready made (fall appart, don't really match the costume...).
I think it's quite relaxing making little bead worms while sitting in front of the TY in the evening ;-)

Ha ha ha, bead worms....

I found that knotting the ends didn't give the fringe the finished look I wanted, so I looped the thread back through the strands and knotted at the top.

Originally Posted by Doozer

Ha ha ha, bead worms....

I found that knotting the ends didn't give the fringe the finished look I wanted, so I looped the thread back through the strands and knotted at the top.

yep- looks classier *&* I think it stays better (only one knot to potentially give way, not 2, and the second at a weak point at that)

I only EVER beaded one set of fringe and I never did it again! I now buy my fringe but i am picky.
Might have been easier to sew the fringe higher on the belt though.

so, for someone whose never done this, can someone explain slowly. what's the needle for, there's two thread running through the fringe?

i'm just curious. most i've ever done is
- put missing stones back on with glue
- change hooks
- knot strands of beads that came undone

so enlighten me, explain slowly, preferably with pictures :-)

i might want a challenge some day (when my working hours are less crazeee then now). i used to love crafts

A query for all your fringe-making fiends..... to what do you prefer to attach the fringe (a cord like E-fringe or something else?), and how do you knot/what kinds of knots have you found work best?

Just tonight I added a small front layer of fringe to existing E-fringe by simply sewing through the braided cord of the E-fringe... my default knot is always a surgeon's knot 'cause I tend to forget how to do the better knots, hehe ..l;,

I think for the occasional fringe project a flat ribbon like grosgrain would be the easiest material to use. Cord rolls around and can get frustrating to work with. The ribbon is also so much easier to sew into the costume and for bra pieces you can match your colors and decorate to hide it. Just don't use the really wide stuff!

As far as knots go, I just granny knot the heck out of the top and go back down the strand a couple of inches and snip it off there so there aren't any visible loose threads. Could be overkill, I'm a perfectionist!

I use grosgrain ribbon when I make my fringe from scratch. I start off with a really long piece of thread, put the needle on it, and tie a knot with both ends in it. Then I bead the strand, tie it to the ribbon. I will then scoot over a little bit, tie another knot, bead the second strand, tie a knot at the end, and then cut the remaining thread. The first time I made fringe I actually took the extra lengths of thread and hid it inside the beads, but that is just way too much work. The fringe is in motion almost the whole time, so no one is going to see the knots.

All I can say is that I'm seriously impressed with anyone who makes their own fringe. WOW.

Originally Posted by dunyah

Wow, you are to be commended for taking on that task! Last year I bought a low-priced Turkish fringe monster on eBay. This is the bedlah before I altered the fringe:





And this is it after I shortened the fringe (and added center belly drape fringe):



What I did was take each strand of long fringe and sew it onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon. When all of the strands were attached I flipped it up to make looped fringe. The nice thing about it, besides shortening it, was that each strand of fringe was tipped with an inch or so of larger beads, which made a nice effect when they were all sewed together onto the ribbon. I am happy with the way it turned out and though it took awhile I think it was nothing compared to completely restringing all of the beads.

Good luck with your project, hope Devi has deep pockets, is she paying you by the hour? ..l;, I know her well, my band LOVES to play music for her dancing.

Oh that's a great idea looping the fringe like that! So clever! and it turned out great!

Oh I hate beading fringe!! I do most of my own and all by hand because I like to do patterns and use the longer beads. It takes forever! I have several costumes that are done except for the fringe, because I just really don't want to do it. For some of my more recent costumes, I've ordered cheap egyptian fringe and added my own pattern fringe (at wider 1" ish spacing) infront of it. That's turning out nicer than I expected and takes a lot less time to do.

Before pre-beaded fringe, we always made our own.
Now, if you want to shorten pre-beaded fringe and the thread is good, be brave and clip it off the the belt or bra, then pull the extra beads off the TOP of the thread exposing thread that you will be sewing back on to the costume.
this works much better than trying to shorten from the bottom.
You will want to be sure that you have at least an inch and a half to have the thread be long enough to go thru your needle. Its labor intensive but not as bad as re-stringing.

Originally Posted by patrisha

Before pre-beaded fringe, we always made our own.
Now, if you want to shorten pre-beaded fringe and the thread is good, be brave and clip it off the the belt or bra, then pull the extra beads off the TOP of the thread exposing thread that you will be sewing back on to the costume.
this works much better than trying to shorten from the bottom.
You will want to be sure that you have at least an inch and a half to have the thread be long enough to go thru your needle. Its labor intensive but not as bad as re-stringing.

Oh that's a good idea too!