How do you keep fabric beads from fraying?

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Latest post Sun, Sep 20 2009 3:16 PM by JSmaz. 3 replies.
  • Fri, Sep 18 2009 1:44 PM

    How do you keep fabric beads from fraying?

    I've bought the book by Kristal Wick, Fabulous Fabric Beads, and made several necklaces using Kristal's crystal-clear (hee hee) directions. But there is one problem I'm having that I'd love to get help with. How do you keep the ends of the fabric beads from unraveling, after you roll up the fabric (on its piece of double-stick backing)? I've tried applying jeweler's glue to the ends of the pieces before rolling them up, but that resulted in an unsightly bump. Same deal with a commercial product I found in the sewing department called "Frey Check." This problem has stopped me from trying to make any more fabric beads. But I still collect the fabric. Batik "gently used " men's ties from Good Will are my latest find.

    If anyone has had this problem and found the solution, I'd be really grateful to hear how you do it.

    Nancy

    nlevine

  • Sun, Sep 20 2009 2:54 PM In reply to

    • JSmaz
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on Wed, Jul 8 2009
    • Brugnera, Italy
    • Posts 1,448

    Re: How do you keep fabric beads from fraying?

    The few times I have made fabric beads (I have her book too btw) I ran into the same problem.  Someone else may have a better solution, but what I did was get the fabric in place (wait for the glue to dry if you used it), trim all the frayed ends with a tiny pair of scissors, decorate the beads, then put a couple of coats of ModPodge over them.  That will seal whatever decoration you put on them and stop any further fraying.  I used one of the sponge brushes used for painting.  Hope that helps!

  • Sun, Sep 20 2009 2:59 PM In reply to

    Re: How do you keep fabric beads from fraying?

    Thank you so much for your help. I'll try your suggestion. I really appreciate your help.

    Nancy

    nlevine

  • Sun, Sep 20 2009 3:16 PM In reply to

    • JSmaz
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on Wed, Jul 8 2009
    • Brugnera, Italy
    • Posts 1,448

    Re: How do you keep fabric beads from fraying?

    Any time, glad I could help!

    By the way, you might want to edit you bio so your email address isn't your forum name.  Last thing you want is 10 tons of spam from someone getting your email!  Go to the edit page (next to your name, top right of the page), then on your bio page go to the 'site options' tab and click yes for 'enable screen name', then save it at the bottom.  If you filled in a name on the personal options, it will appear instead of your email.

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