I recently made my daughter’s prom dress. It was my first sewing experience with boning. I followed pattern instructions to the letter, but when she was wearing the beautiful dress, one strip of boning poked a hole through the lining. I am now making 5 bridesmaids dresses which require boning, and I am wondering how to avoid having the plastic boning poke through the lining again. I know that I should curve the ends of the boning (which I did on the prom dress), but is there a good way to cushion the ends of the boing? I have tried inserting a small amount of batting at the ends, but I’m afraid it will not stay in place.
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Replies
I have seen garments that have a little pocket of tightly woven cotton or cotton/poly at the ends of the plastic boning. It's a separate piece that is only about 1/2"-3/4" long. There is also another type of boning that is flatter and is sewn to the seam allowance throughought the length of the seam. The kind I use is called Rigilene. In fact, I just got up to look for the box of boning that I have so I could find the name and on the front of the box it says "no pocket required!" Happy sewing! - Janet
Spiral steel boning is, in my opinion, the best available. It is flat, flexible and curves side to side. If you buy it in pre-cut lengths, the pieces are already capped. You can buy a roll and cut it yourself with industrial shears or pruning shears and purchase the caps separately and apply them.
When I alter gowns with Rigilene boning, I always fold a small piecde of tightly woven fabric over the ends before stitching in place. But, I don't like Rigilene or plastic boning.
Denver Fabrics http://www.denverfabrics.com is a good source for precut spiral steel boning. Try it you will love it!
Marijo Rymer
PACC
Thanks for the tip- I'll try it!- Janet
Thanks for your suggestions. The Rigalene in the store was wider than what the pattern called for, so I didn't purchase it. Does the "no pocket required" on the box just mean you don't need what I would call a "casing" to slip it into? I think I may cut a small piece of the cloth casing the plastic boning came in, stitch the end of the cloth, and then slip the end of the boning into it before inserting the boning into the casing alreday formed in the lining.
With steel corset boning you actually get the stuff that they dip tools in to give the handles that plastic covering so that they don't rust, or conduct electricity - or poke through your bridesmaids dress. From a sewing perspective, you can buy a can of the dipping stuff in white from Greenberg and Hammer in New York. OR you can run out to your local Home Depot, and get it in colors!
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