Thread: Swags and Fringe .. a marriage made in hell.

Does any one have an idea? I lengthened the beaded fringe that hangs between the loops in the hopes that they would not tangle, no luck. Every small movement causes the heavy beaded fringe that is located between the loops to snarl within the loops of the swag. Arggg... hours for naught (pun).

I learned this lesson a number of years ago with one of the first costumes I made-tangled nightmare. The only way it will work is if the fringe is really really long and the swags short. And they still tangle. Too bad, cause it's a great look....

Something which might help but won't totally eliminate the problem is to make sure that there is a heavy bead at the bottom of the fringe. This will help it to move at a different rate than the loops.

{{{HUGS}}}

I made such a costume for my daughter and it looked absolutely fantastic . . . until the fringe and swags began to get tangled up.

Maybe this would be a good costume for photo shoots?

To be more serious, I've had the privilege of wearing an all-swag costume and it was wonderful -- the swagging didn't seem to get tangled together very much.

It's that fringe/swag combo that tends to go bad . . .

Deborah

There are 2 big glass beads at the bottom, and several big gold plastic balls above them, still no good.

Lead fishing weights?

Would love to see a photo of the costume!

Considered using this style of fringe for the costume I am working on; thought it was pretty. Now that I know it creates messes I won't. Thank-you for posting this Anala.

ha! just bought a costume with both, haven't performed in it yet though

hmm.....

I made a military inspired costume once that had the same type of problem with the gold fringe on the shoulders. Could you pass a clear thread through the fringe (or weave it) and tack it on each side low and loose? Still some movement but no snarling? (or weave it through around the middle of the fringe and tack it on each side, hard to say without seeing it)

HTH

Would short fringe work? As in less than 4 inches?

Hmm, I have a Hanan belt with swags and fringe side-by-side. There seems to always be a few pieces of fringe that I need to pick out of the swags when I get it out of the drawer, but I haven't noticed a tangling problem the two times I've danced in it so far... Have you looked at the way Hanans are designed?

This is a Hanan. The fringe was shorter and it tangled, made it longer, it tangled. Not just a little, but hours of picking after 3 song set. I have wrapped the fringe with thread to make tassels, but it is not the look I want. I am thinking inconspicuous metal chain capturing the bottom beads might work. Also..I think if the swags were a denser, better quality smooth seed bead it may not be such a headache. The loops are open and light weight, they flop about too much.

I had a bedlah with swags and fringe. The fringe did not have any bigger beads or anything on the end... just normal fringe. It would get tangled in the loops when dancing, but come right out after with only a few seconds of messing with them (sometimes they wouldn't even be there after dancing). I think they got less tangled because the loops and fringes were all uniform and didn't have any big beads or anything like that to keep them tangled.

ETA: It was the green and silver versace of cairo that Sa'Noora bought from me.