I’ve purchased panties (Spanx?) that are very thin nylon knit that have rows of some type of rubbery material that keeps the panties in place so that no elastic is needed around the legs.
Is this available to home sewers. It would really help with some of my bathing suits. (Well, then again, so would more trips to the gym!)
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I've heard rumors that clear caulk can work for this.
Yup, the stuff you squeeze out of a tube to seal the edges of your shower from leaks. Never tried it myself. But it's cheap enough at the home improvement store to give it a try, especially if your shower needs to be sealed again, anyway.
Hee hee, thanks for reminding me... our shower DOES need re-caulking!
Another one NOT to try is lines of hot glue. I thought it would work to keep an older rug from slipping, but the cooled, dried glue just peeled off in chunks, making a huge mess. Sometimes hardware can work for soft "wear," but sometimes it won't.
Is it just my imagination, or isn't an elastic with rubber ridges available in the specialty notions part of the fabric store? Or maybe it used to be available?
I don't know if I would wear caulking next to my skin. I know it is used on the bottom of knitted slippers to make them skidproof but never have tried it....but next to the skin?
After being a nurse, the first thing that comes to mind is the doctor's reaction when the patient tells them " I didn't wait long enough for the caulking to dry" or "I have this caulking rash....." thanks for the giggle this morning! (but it just might be what the manufacturer uses anyway, so who knows?)
I do know this is all in good jest,
butI use silicone caulk (the clear stuff) on my tents. it is used as a seam sealer since the fabric is silicone impregnated rip stop, the only thing that will stick to it is silicone. Also, I recommend that people put several rows of the caulk on the floor to give some traction. The fabric is really really slippery. (if you get it on your hands, it jsut peels right off)Silicone is mostly an inert material with very low allergy problems - silicone is used in many medical devices. It is stretchy and would probably work very well for this type of application.Generally what comes in the big caulking tubes in the hardware store is too thick. For use on the tents, I dilute it 1:1 with mineral spirits.
That's good to know, thank you. I think I'd like to try it on an underwire that keeps slipping through my favorite bra. I've even used bias binding to try to keep it enclosed, but it keeps escaping in spite of my efforts. I'll have to pick up some mineral spirits, I have the caulking.
I love your idea of using the silicone on the tent floors, wish I'd known about that years ago! I will definitely share that information with friends and family. Thanks! Mary
Mary,
The silicone caulk will only work on silicone fabrics, most commercial tents are made of a urethane coated fabric. The silicone will just peel right off of it.
Judy
Thanks for letting me know right away! I was going to tell people about it this week end.
I think it is so great that you are able to earn money with your inventions and sewing. Those tents sound fantastic. Glad you are also able to get a little break and make something for yourself for the joy of it too. Mary
Isn't there fabric glue available? I've never used it but I'm sure I've seen it advertised. I know Aleene's makes several different kinds of glue.
FWIW - On waistbands that will have a tucked in shirt I use crystal colored fabric paints from Joanns. This are often called Puffy paints and are often on sale for 99 cents. They come in little squirt bottles. The "paint" has a very rubbery feel to it, is made to be washable, and works great. The very subtle sparkle, ie Crystal, gives it a little pizazz.
My big concern here is that you are applying a substance to the edge of the suit that will not stretch. It might have hold power on your skin but if it doesn't move with the stretching fabric as you get dressed and swim, it could chunk up and/or come off and be pretty ugly. Let us know what works.
Bunny
Edited 7/17/2009 8:42 am ET by Sewista
Lots of interesting suggestions you've gotten! ('Silicone caulking' sure made me giggle!)Probably the "solution" to Bunny's (sewista) very valid concern about it stretching with the fabric is to use *dots*, rather than *lines*, no matter which substance you choose.Indeed, let us know how it turns out! (with pics, if you can - haven't seen many from ANYBODY lately!)Bright Blessings!Kharmin
Wanted to post some stuff, but my allowance is full! Still trying to decide which ones to delete. When I go to delete past posts to free up space, it asks me if I am sure, as it removes them from future reference for others searching for information from past posts. Since what I posted is mostly information..... don't know what to do about it at this point. Cathy
I suppose you could create another user name, perhaps ThreadKoe2 and have more space available!There's always a way around things.
Hadn't thought of that one! Will ponder my options. Have deleted some, but will leave the more important ones. Thanks for the input. :) Cathy
Anything I want to keep permanently I put in Favorites. My Favorites is really extensive and things can be difficult to find but at least nothing is lost. Once in an age I delete from Favorites.
I didn't know we had an allowance! Since there is an archives I figured it went on forever, I guess, but on reflection, a lot of the stuff we write is not even related to sewing so those would be easy. The hard part is sitting down and filtering out the ones to delete! How time consuming. That takes away from the fun of adding our two cents to the new discussions! Another thing... I frequently click on the number of the post being responded to so I can figure out just what is being talked about and it is frustrating if it has been deleted.
One way you could cut back on your tally is to not respond to every post. There is a lot of back and forth posting that is chatty and fun, but not necessary, especially is we are limited in numbers.
It is the uploads that are the problem. If you upload something, and it takes up a lot of storage space, it becomes a problem. I have discovered that some picture files are HUGE, and take up a lot of space. So since I uploaded quite a few to demonstrate techniques and ideas a while back, I ran out of space, and now have to decide which to delete. Since they were from a book that I was suggesting as a good resource, I think I shall delete them all anyway. Problem solved.
Just wanted to make sure I was not going to delete something that would be helpful that would not be accessible easily elsewhere. Cathy
I think I am having a problem with the wording here... when you say you wanted to post some stuff, I supposed you wanted to make a comment in one of the (I call them posts) threads. Is that right? Or is it a problem with saving things from the posts we read? Like when someone sends a link? I do not know how to "save" anything other than cutting and pasting to a document or, "lightbulb" flashing, is it that your favorites is filling up? Because that seems to be happening to me. I tried to copy something by moving that heart into my favorites and it popped up with a note telling me I didn't have enough room!!! The audacity!!! That is when I think I fianally "got" what you are talking about. Because now I have been going through and deleting but haven't made much of a dent. Yet.
I wanted to post some pictures of things I had finally finished, but I do not have room to post them. I guess some of the pictures I had posted as a newbie took up too much space. There is a limit to the amount of space you can use to post downloads (uploads?) before you run out. A reasonable thing to do, so the site does not become overwhelmed. Just it means I have to do some cleaning out of the closet, tee hee hee. Cathy
Just when I thought I got it, I find it's not that at all! It must be because I have not posted more than 5 pictures, it hasn't seen a need to flash a warning. Ah well, I love this computer age and am happy learning one thing at a time. The brain doesn't seem to want to take in too much at a time, but it is nice not to feel totally ignorant.
It would be a shame to lose some of the wonderful contributions you've made to this forum. And it would be disappointing if you can't continue in the same manner. Before you do any deleting, please ascertain that doing so will correct the problem.
Edited 8/8/2009 2:30 am ET by Josefly
Thanks for the pat on the back. It is mostly pictures from a reference that were used as an illustration I am going to delete. I am going to EDIT the posts to remove them, rather than just delete the posts to solve the problem. I will just state where the deleted pictures can be found for further reference. When I get Round TUIT this fall..... :) Cathy
That's a very thoughtful way to solve the problem. Thanks for doing it that way.
LIMITS? We have LIMITS here? Oh dear!
Happy Monday, eauinaz!Hey, sewista just posted this site in another thread and this may be just what you're looking for: http://www.sewsassy.com/Pages/Elastic.html#anchorGripperElasticHope it helps!Kharmin
Because sew sassy KharminJ posted deals wholesale, maybe interesteds can buddy up with others to make a purchase.
nepa
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