Caveat & read first

First of all, the most important care instructions should be included with your corset. In a store-bought corset, there must be a label in the garment which includes care instructions (at least according to Canadian labeling laws – your local laws may differ).  However if you have purchased a custom-made corset or have bought one from an independent corsetiere, you may not have a label sewn into your corset and instead should have received care instructions from whomever made the corset.

These instructions supersede any other instructions you might read online, think up, hear from a friend, and certainly my suggestions…  If the instructions say “dry clean only” (and in most cases, that’s exactly what they will say…) you should follow those instructions – to do otherwise is at your own risk…

Some fabrics just shouldn’t be washed.  If you have a leather, fur, suede, or similar corset,  you won’t want to wash it.  While you may consider your potential for risk in cleaning the lining, the non-washable ‘fabric’ shouldn’t be washed. Art corsets (paper, paper mache, plastic, duct tape, etc) should be considered art, and treated as needed to maintain their integrity.

Spot treatment

If there are just small areas needing to be cleaned, you’ll be looking to spot-clean the garment.  First of all you need to figure out what the soil or stain is, what your corset is made of, and where the spot is.

Before using any chemical on your corset, you should test it.  Pick an inconspicuous spot (on the inside of the corset, under the arm, on the modesty panel, or if you were really lucky, on the self-fabric swatch or bag provided by your corsetiere.  Use a small amount of whatever cleaner you want to use on a clean, white facecloth, and ‘clean’ the hidden spot as if it were the soiled area.

• Check the white cloth; did any dye come off onto the facecloth?
• Check the corset; did the cleaner change the colour of your corset in any way?

If everything is good – go ahead and use your preferred cleaner specifically on the small spot needing to be cleaned.  If there are any problems, you’ll want to take your corset to a professional cleaner.

If you have a leather or PVC corset you may be able to simply wipe the spot with a clean, dry cloth.

Different types of ‘soiling’ may require different kinds of treatment.  For instance oily stains (body oil, lipstick, some food, etc) require a lot more attention than dry material.  Consider the type of ‘soil’ in choosing your cleaning technique.

Scents (oh that smokey nightclub…)

I’m ecstatic that bars and clubs in my area have gone smoke-free, but smoke is a pretty common complaint – along with perfume and other scents that your corset may have absorbed.  Different fabrics are more susceptible to absorbing scents too, but there are a few ways you can try to get rid of the scents.

1) Just air it out….  Let the corset hang in a well-ventilated area, with as much air movement on all sides for a while, and mild scents will disappear with time.

2) Fabreeze - Some people have recommended (although I’ve never done it, and thus can’t recommend it) spraying your corset with a scent-remover spray like Fabreeze.  I personally think that Fabreeze smells terrible, so I don’t do it.  The same caveat for cleaning chemicals applies – test first.

3) Vodka - Likewise, some people have recommended (although I’ve never done it, and thus can’t recommend it) spraying your corset with a mix of vodka and water. (I’ve heard of a 10% vodka to water mix, to 50/50% – if you use this technique, please post your recommendation in the comments below!)  The same caveat for cleaning chemicals applies – test first.

4) Association – I’ve never tried this either, but I’ve read people suggesting ‘pulling’ the scent out using either baking soda or Fabreeze. The technique is to put the corset in a container or bag along with a box of baking soda (like you would put in your fridge) or a cloth sprayed with Fabreeze.  With this method the product doesn’t ever touch the corset – but just being in the container with it will ‘pull’ out the unwanted scent.   Once the scent is removed, remove the corset from the container for storage. (I’ll have storage suggestions in another post.)

5) Cleaning – sometimes just airing my corset out isn’t enough for me, in which case I clean it… see below for how I do that.

A corset of mine with the round nylon cord for back lacing. (Shown on a dressform, so it doesn’t fit properly…

My personal thoughts on dry cleaners

Personally, I’ve never worked for a dry cleaner, nor have I really taken many garments to dry cleaners… however I have heard dozens of stories about items being wrecked at dry cleaners while working at fabric stores (where people came in to replace buttons that were melted or destroyed) and for a custom clothing designer (where people came in hoping a damaged garment could be saved or replaced).

My personal opinion of dry cleaners; I don’t use them.

Most of the time clothing items are constructed without fabric being pre-washed; pre-washing fabrics for mass production just isn’t cost-efficient.  However, pre-washing fabrics can do a number of things – it removes excess sizing, removes some excess dye (but not always all), softens fibers, pre-shrinks fabrics, etc.  If a garment is made up with fabric that has not been pre-washed – then all of those negatives can happen to your garment if you wash it.  That’s why clothing makers put “dry clean only” on a lot of garments – even those where the fabrics don’t normally need to be dry cleaned.  Basically, it puts the problem in the hands of the dry cleaners or customer and out of their hands…

Cleaning

Since I make most of my own corsets, I know how the fabrics have been treated before the corset was made.  I also am aware of the condition of the boning and other material that has gone into the corset – thus I know exactly what kind of cleaning I can do.

If you don’t make your own corsets, here are some things to be aware of:

1) Rust – if water sits on the bones for a while, rust can form.  Additionally, although most “white bones” are covered (the white materials), I have seen bones where the white plastic has split – rust is a definite factor with those.  Plastic bones are not affected by water.  You can reduce your risk of rust by ensuring that your corset dries quickly (but without excess heat which can cause other problems).

2) Colour bleeding – just like when you’ve washed your white towels with the red t-shirt – dye can bleed.  This isn’t a big deal if you wash your corset by itself, and the trim, laces, and lining are all the same colour, but if you have a black corset with white piping or lace, this might be a concern.  There are ‘dye magnets’ that may help with this – but if you have a high-contrast corset, you may wish to test for colour bleeding before washing your corset, or send it to a professional cleaner.

3) Shrinkage – while it’s not going to make your 30″ corset a 24″… fabric can shrink.  More importantly, it can shrink differently in each direction.  This means that the fabrics, held in place with your boning, can seem to ‘warp’ if they shrink.  You can minimize shrinkage by avoiding high heat, using mild cleansers (if any) and minimizing agitation (rubbing).

4) Changing the texture – while washing can soften fabrics, sometimes it can also change the texture through shrinkage or changing the sheen of the fabric.  I’ve found this most frequently happens with those “Chinese brocades” that are commonly used for corsets, and a lot of silks. Your best bet to avoid this is to test the fabric in an inconspicuous spot, and follow the suggestions for shrinkage.

5) Warping – you will also want to avoid warping your corset in the cleaning process.  This is pretty easy to do – avoid washing machines, avoid wringing the corset to dry, and avoid rolling the corset in a towel in a way that doesn’t follow the direction of your boning. You’ll also want to avoid excessive heat which can warp plastic boning, and avoid laundry dryers.

6) Bleaching – obviously… avoid bleach! You’ll also want to avoid any cleaners that might bleach colour out of the corset fabric.  Don’t forget the power of the sun; the sun can bleach colour out of fabrics as well- so as tempting as a bright sunny window might be for drying your corset, keep that in mind.

My techniques

As I mentioned, I make my own corsets and thus know what is safe for them.  Your experience may be different, but here is what I do:

1) First I handle any spot-cleaning that might be needed.

2) Next, in a large sink I will use a very mild laundry detergent and a sufficient amount of water to hand-wash the corset in lukewarm water.  I rinse in the sink.

3) Next, I hang the corset by the laces from two plastic coat hangers in my shower, and ‘hose’ them off. If the corset just needs to be rinsed, I’ll skip steps 1 & 2 and go straight to this step.

4) To dry, I hang the corset by the laces from the two plastic hangers so that the two sides of the corset stay apart, and let it drip-dry in the shower, which has decent ventilation.

5) I don’t store the corset until it is completely dry.

Other cleaning options

Some of the other techniques for cleaning that I’ve heard from fellow corset lovers include:

“I wash my corsets by hand in the kitchen sink and then hang them by their laces over the shower rod. I use a free and clear laundry detergent.” – Isabelle

“Corsets are dry clean only, as any steel boning would rust if left wet” – Sassy

“Hand wash the corset in warm water with a mild powder and rinse in cold running water. Don’t wring the corset, and then wrap in a towel to remove moisture. Dry on a drying frame away from heat.” – Lisa

“Mix a mild washing powder with warm water and sponge the corset to clean.” – Mata

If professional cleaning is your preferred option

As you know, I personally don’t use dry cleaners, but, if your corset label instructs “Dry Clean Only” and you don’t want to risk your investment by using any other option, you’ll want to pick the RIGHT cleaner.

Dry cleaners don’t see a lot of corsets.  They’re unusual garments, and have a few aspects that require unique treatment and care.  Taking your corset to the closest strip-mall dry cleaner might be a bad idea.  I remember a wedding dress where all of the bustle-ties were cut (rather than untied) in order to clean the skirt… your loopy laces could suffer the same fate if the cleaner was equally as oblivious.

Generally speaking, I’d suggest finding out which cleaner in your area specializes in wedding dresses. A cleaner who works with wedding dresses has probably seen a few corsets, and will understand special treatment for fine fabrics, embroidery, boning, and lacing. Talk to them in advance and ask about their experience with corsets and how they intend to clean yours. Alternately (and harder to find) you can look for a cleaner who specializes in theatrical and ballet costumes.

Your turn!

How do you clean and care for your corsets? Leave us some comments in the field below!  If you want more information from my “corset class”, just follow the category link!

Full necklace, with flash.

This was actually pretty hard to photograph – with the flash it looks washed out… but without it, it doesn’t sparkle as much as it does in person.

Toggle

Such a pretty rhinestone clasp.  I’ve used this same clasp a few times now on different projects – it works really well.

Close up

A close up of some of the beads I used.  The clear glass large-hole beads are from Michaels, as are the large-hole roundels adn the round multi-rhinestone beads.  The silver-and-clear rhinestone spacer beads are from Beads & Plenty more.  I really liked these a lot in-store, but when I got them home I found them less interesting to work with.

Full necklace

Well, they’ve organized a crafty blogger giveaway-palooza!

Head over to their blog, http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/ and click the category you’re most interested in, and then follow the links for your chance (alongside me!) to win beautiful things by crafty bloggers! You might just find another amazing crafty blog to follow… (I sure have!)

I’ve used my WordPress login to enter – but I don’t know  if it shares my email address/contact information with the login… if you’ve followed a link from one of those participating blogs – could you let me know in the comments below?

No Reply bloggers

There’s a tutorial to see if your email shows up in comments if you log in with a Blogger ‘open ID’ - http://mummyquilts.blogspot.ca/2013/01/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html but I have yet to find a similar check for those of us using WordPress.

Here’s another one, again for Blogger users: http://www.flusterbuster.com/2013/02/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html .. and another: http://www.newlywedmoments.com/2013/02/are-bloggers-ignoring-you.html (wow, who knew this was such a big problem?)

Update

Ok… well, it looks like I probably am a no-reply blogger – not by choice, but because I’m not a Blogger-blogger! Since I’m on WordPress, it looks like the two systems don’t play nice together, and there’s nothing I can do, if I want to use my WordPress ‘open ID’ to comment on Blogger blogs… it’s either sign up for a Blogger account (um, not going to happen! I don’t need yet another login somewhere..) or leave my email address in the comments. Ouch! Also not cool!

Piece Meal Quilts has something to say about this:

“Only Blogger users face this issue. See, Google doesn’t want to share the
sandbox, so they’re making it difficult for people using other platforms
to play. Anyone who blogs on a platform other than Blogger will
always show up as a no reply blogger, as will anyone who leaves
a reply using the Name/URL option. There’s nothing we can do
about it. While Blogger allows us to comment using a WordPress,
TypePad or OpenID profile, it does not share the email information
with you (even though it’s available).”

Time Thief also adds:

“I could go on and on about Blogger commenting but I won’t. I’ll simply add this:
Open ID fails more often than it works.”

… so, I guess that’s what the problem is. How disappointing!

This necklace was put together partially out of leftovers from other projects…

Blue and green large-hole bead necklace.

The blue and green glass large-hole beads are actually from Wal-Mart.  I picked up two cards of these beads in order to do the mirrored effect on both sides, gradating from dark, dark blue (practically black) to light green.  The super-dark beads at the centre are from Hi Beads in Toronto.

The black roundels are from Hi Beads as well, while the clear crystal beads are from Michaels along with the extra-large crystal roundel at the centre.  The green/blue AB rhinestone toggle clasp is also from Michaels, from a new ‘seaside’-themed collection I just started seeing in mid-April.

The teal leather cord is from Suzie Q Beads, while the crimps and split rings are from my crafting stash.

Toggle closure on the blue and green large-hole bead necklace.

I’m not normally fond of AB stones (Aurora Borealis, which means that they kind of change colour) but I don’t mind them at all in the blue/green shade which I don’t often see. The only complaint I have about this clasp, is that on the toggle part, they’ve put the rhinestones on the wrong side…  They are on the side opposite the ring, which makes sence when the toggle is flat, or on the card – but when worn… it means the sold silver-tone part of the toggle is displayed, not the pretty rhinestone side.

Blue and green large-hole bead necklace close up.

Close up of that extra-large roundel.  I bought several, but once I got home, they didn’t seem to work with anything.  I put one here, and used others on other projects where they do work – but not how I anticipated them working.

Blue and green large-hole bead necklace.

The complete necklace, shown on my dressform.

While in Toronto, I picked up these enormous, super-bling’d out beads. They’re HUGE (well, there are three sizes, and the largest is huge) and totally covered in rhinestones. You can barely make out any of the metal for all of the shine on these babies…

Of course, rather than just looping one on a discreet silver chain and calling it a day, I had to use them all. All together. At once. SUPER BLING OVERLOAD!

I actually toyed with these for a while, trying to figure out what to do with them. Did I want something long and dangly, with lots of mellow black cut glass beads between them? Did I want to go really high-contrast and toss them on some thick black leather cord, with chunky knots to divide them and hold them in place? Did I want a shorter necklace that was just non-stop bling?

Super bling overload – shown on my dressform

… well, simple practicality won out I’m afraid. Since there are so many rhinestones on these things, and each is held on with a claw settings (rather than glued in stones), I found that they were susceptible to catching certain fabrics – and I certainly don’t want to snag my top just because of a super-blinged out necklace, so practicality dictated that this be a shorter necklace which will fall within the neckline of most garments – rather than a longer necklace which might be worn over clothing.

Rhinestone-heart accented tggle clasp on the Super Bling Overload necklace

The necklace is strung on silver leather cord from Suzie Q beads, and is finished with crimps and split rings from my crafty stash, along with a toggle from Michael’s, and a rhinestone heart charm from Hi Beads in Toronto.

Super Bling Overload necklace shown laying flat on the table. You can see the silver leather cord it’s strung on.

Between each of the blingy beads is a red roundel, which I also got at Hi Beads. At the very end of each side is a crystal bead from Michaels – I wanted something a bit smoother for the top, rather than using a red bead or a roundel.

Super Bling Overload close up showing the ride roundels between each bead.

I love the close-up of these beads!

So.. now styling tips! Who has them? What do you suggest wearing with something this bling-tastic?

In the meantime, here’s a super blinged out photo of three of my recent projects which I’ll be blogging about soon!

Three new necklaces I recently made – posts about them coming soon!

After looking at the pattern for the inspiration black and red piece (as mentioned in my previous Kumihimo post), I wanted to do a black and red one too – I love black and red together, and it reminds me of the logo colours (and song lyrics) for one of my favorite Finnish metal bands, Turisas.

Disc set up with a 12-strand set; 8 strands of red and 4 of black.

The disc set up is a 12-strand (different than the 8-strand I did for the beaded bracelets) with 8 strands of red and 4 of black. The resulting braided cord is a red cord with a winding black thread. I love it! I’ve ordered a silver Mjölnir from a seller on Etsy which I’ll use with this cord. I’ll have to wait until I can get the pendant before finishing the cord – just in case the hole is only sufficient to accommodate the cord, and not also the end caps. I want to go with a Viking-esque feel because the resulting cord reminds me a bit of Viking knit (which I also want to learn!) and I think the whole effect will be great – plus a substantial pendant deserves a substantial and interesting cord!  I might do the reverse (a black cord with a winding red thread) for another, similar project.

The finished black and red cord.

I picked up some beautiful horse-head end caps at Beads & Plenty more (the same place I got the disc and cord) for $.75 each which echo the feeling of a lot of Viking jewellery (torcs) and I think will work great. Hopefully I’ll have a finished project to share soon!

Finished purple Kumihimo bracelet

As I mentioned in my previous post, this is a waxed cotton cord (1 mm width) and size 6 seed beads in an iridescent sort of blue/purple colour and a matte finish.

Once I was done with that bracelet though, I wanted to try a few more styles…. and ended up doing a red leather one with black beads.

Other ideas…

There’s also a cool online tool to design patterns, and I really like this pre-existing one, which is a 16 strand braid with black and red.

Lynn Caldwell uses Kumihimo to display beautiful glass focal beads.

The Bead Hive explains a bit about the history of Kumihimo, and shows off using different materials, and mixing bead types in one piece.  Love the effect here!

Blogger Stephanie shows off a wide variety of styles in her blog.

Craftsy offers a pattern where a beaded Kumihimo necklace graduates in colour – very pretty!

I like how Mrs. Beadly starts off with her toggle clasp right away, rather than having to cap both ends of her work.  Photos on this page also show use of satin cord rather than leather or cotton for a shiny look.

Project #2

After the first project I went to two other materials I picked up during the class – a ‘wine’ (dark red) leather cord (again 1 mm wide) and black matte size 6 seed beads and made up a similar bracelet.  This time around I cut my cord a bit shorter – I cut it 145 cm long, and when I was finished, I realized that I had about 18 cm more cord than I needed – so in future I could probably cut the cord about 130cm long, assuming the cord was the same and the beads were the same.  I used about 240 seed beads on this project as well.

One aspect I noticed, is that when I was using the weight, the finished braid is much tighter, and when I took the weight off and used less tension, the beaded braid is looser.  I like both – but I would have liked a more consistent finished product, and should have kept the weight on throughout the whole bracelet construction.

I finished the bracelet the same way that I did the one I did in the class, by wrapping the ends in wire, cutting them off, then gluing on the bead cap.  I then used split rings to attach a magnetic clasp.  I like magnetic clasps for bracelets, since they are much easier to put on by yourself than a lobster or box clasp – though I do worry about how much they’ll hold.  Also, they are very small magnets, and if you’re using them to craft, you should be careful not to let them become ingested by children/animals/etc.

I do really like the contrast between the shiny leather and the matte beads in the finished bracelet.

Finished second kumihimo project

Both finished pieces!

two Kumihimo bracelets with magnetic clasps.

The costs for the caps were .85$ for the plain ones, and .40$ for the decorated ones. The large magnetic clasp was about 3.00$, while the small one came from a pack of four from Michaels (I think in the 9.00$ range). The leather cord was in the 9.00$ range for a small spool while the cotton cord came on a spool twice the size for about the same price. The beads were about 7.00$ per vial, and I used less than a full vial for each. I also used split rings from my crafting stash.

I made a mental note to look into Kumihimo braiding (and maybe take a class) but didn’t get much chance, until I saw a class being offered through a Continuing Education catalogue in their craft section. The price was a bit steep (though it did include most of the materials, although not all) but the date was the big problem – the class was set to take place at the same time as a birthday celebration I had committed to attending. I did a quick look online and found out that Beads & Plenty More http://www.beadsandplentymore.ca/classes.html  also offered a similar class, so I signed up for it!

Other classes

In my online-wanderings, I also found some other classes and inspiration. I’m noting them here to share with you – but also to inspire myself once I start the class!

Jan Buday offers a class that I was interested in taking – until I looked at some of the details and realized that although I had put “Calgary” in my search terms, she’s in Washington. Still, there are some cool examples, and she has a great two-handed stand for braiding available for sale which looks like a great tool for someone who wanted to do the braiding at home, watching TV or something. http://www.janbuday.com/classes.html  I like that instead of special bobbins, she uses old film canisters! (I had a whole bunch of those… now to find them…)

There’s a list of workshops and teachers on the Weaver’s Hand site – unfortunately not a single entry of “Calgary”. http://www.weavershand.com/khworkshops.html

Beadworks on Granville Island (Vancouver, again, not Calgary) has a whole supply page for Kumihimo – including the discs, the bobbins, beads, and stringing material like leather cord, waxed cotton cord, rattail satin cord, silk cord, and nylon thread. http://www.beadworks.ca/new/categories/5729/kumihimo.html

Of course, I had to check out Suzie Q’s website too: http://suzieqbbb.com/classes-events/calendar/  they have their classes listed in a PDF (for Spring/Summer 2013: http://suzieqbbb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/SuzieQScheduleSpringSummer2013.pdf ) and they have a number of different kumihimo classes, ranging from beginner-style classes like Kumihimo Cool (the basic class for $30 + supplies) Mirror, Mirror (making two strands which mirror one another for a wider bracelet), and Beadiful Kumihimo using fine leather and size 6 Japanese seed beads. Then the classes get into more complicated designs like the Kumi-pearls class which is a fully-beaded bracelet, Kumihimo Sparks which incorporates wirework and crystal beads, and Magatama Magic using megatama beads (an oval bead with an off-centre hole) for another fully beaded bracelet. The class prices are good, but I’ve found Suzie Q to be pretty high on the price range for supplies themselves, so it might be a good option when I really know what I want to do… rather than just playing around.

The class at Beads & Plenty More

I got to the class a bit early as suggested, to pick out my materials. I was told to pick out 1mm wide leather cord (though I accidentally picked up the waxed cotton cord instead because they were mixed together, and the cotton cord had much nicer colours…) and size 6 seed beads.

(The cotton cord was nice because it was matte instead of shinier like the leather, but also difficult because it didn’t hold a point, and wasn’t as firm as the leather, so it made it more difficult to thread the beads onto the cord.)

Of course, while I was there I also saw a few dozen other things I wanted to get… isn’t that always the way?

Materials

• 1mm cord
• size 6 beads
• fine wire
• end caps
• glue
• pliers, wire snips
• scissors
• Kumihimo disc
• clasp
• weight

The class was pretty full – and the instructor led us through the first steps.

Prepare the cord

1. We measured the cord to the length of a ‘wingspan’ – spreading our arms out. (So, about a meter and a half)
2. We cut the cord, and then cut an additional three lengths.
3. (This was actually WAY too much cord for a bracelet.  I’m sure somewhere there is a calculation for how much cord is used up in this braid, to better estimate how much we’ll need.)
4. We folded the cord in the middle, and tied an overhand knot so there was a loop at the end
5. We attached the weight to the knot (in this case it was a clip-on curtain ring – not especially heavy, just heavy enough to weigh down the working portion)  I discovered later how important this is to maintaining tension in the braiding, and thus a consistant look throughout the piece.

Setting up the disc

1. Our instructor had us draw arrows reminding us to turn our disc counter-clockwise.
2. We pulled the cords through the centre hole, and since this was an 8-strand braid, set two at the top, bottom and left and right sides.
3. The knot is centered in the middle of the hole, to the back.

Setting up the disc with the cords secured at four corners and the knot centered in the hole to the back.

Starting the braid

1. We began the braid by bringing the top left cord down from it’s slot, and tucking it in the slot on the left hand of the bottom two threads.
2. Then the bottom right hand moved into the slot at the top on the right side.
3. Then the disc rotates counter-clockwise, and repeats.
4. The instructor suggested that if we needed to put down our work, and didn’t want to lose our place – that we should set our disc in the position with three threads at the top.
5. For the beaded design we were doing in this class, we did about an inch of this plain braid.  I think that it was a bit of waste – we would end up cutting off most of this – but it was great for getting us accustomed to the motions of the braid.

Starting the braid. We were instructed to braid an inch plain before adding the beads.

Adding the beads

1. When we had about an inch of work, we started adding beads. The bead is threaded onto the the cord, as the cord moves from one position to the other.
2. The instructor reminded us that it was really important that the bead lands in between the two cords to the side – I kind of thought of it as being cradled by the other threads.  …Right bottom, bead, right top.. left top, bead, left bottom… turn… continue…
3. Somewhere during the work I realized that I could pre-string on 6-8 beads at once to speed things up a little bit. This was a bit of an added complication, so I wouldn’t want to start out doing this for a first project, but when I make another, I’ll definitely use this technique again.
4. …Right bottom, bead, right top.. left top, bead, left bottom… turn… continue…  Basically we did this for the remainder of the class – and would until we had enough beaded cord to make our bracelet.

Large photo: adding the beads in along the strands of cord.
Inset: The back of the disc, showing the progression of the beadwork.

Finishing

1. I had hoped to completely finish the bracelet in class, but there wasn’t enough time.  She showed us how to finish our ends, by finishing the end that we had started with. In the photo below you can see my work compared to the instructors – and the difference between the matte look of the cotton cord versus the sheen of the leather cord. My beads are also matte finish, while hers are shiny.
2. First we threaded a fine piece of wire through the braid close to the beads, and wrapped it a few times around the cord.
3. We twisted together the ends, and snipped off the wire.
4. Then came the ‘brave’ step and cut off the excess cord.
5. Our instructor brought out some E6000 glue, which we filled one bead cap with, pushed the cord in, and used some masking tape to hold it in place while it dries. (Our instructor suggested it would take 24 hours to cure completely.)
6. We wouldn’t be able to finish the work in class, so from here we would finish the braiding, tie off and cap the other end, and then attach jump rings to the bead caps followed by a clasp of our choosing.

Top left: inserting the wire through the plain braid.
Top right: wrapping the wire a few times to secure the braid.
Bottom left: my work compared to the instructors.
Bottom right: the recommended glue.

The class

If you’re interested in taking the class at Beads & Plenty More, the one I took was called Beaded Kumihimo, and it’s described as:
“Let’s take it one step further and add beads to our Kumihimo weaving. Easier than round crochet but with a similar look.” Dates were in February and March – though it looks like they publish class dates every few months, so I imagine this is offered several times per year.

My completed project

Stay tuned! I’ll finish up the project soon and post it in an upcoming post.

Remaining beads – I used about 2/3 of the container.

I chose a HIGHLY patterned style- Tattoo Much – which was probably a good thing, as it seemed to disguise mistakes better than I think a more subdued pattern would.

Tattoo Much

The steps are included in the package – basically:

1. clean your nails (start with unpolished nails) and prep your nails by filing and smoothing with the enclosed tool. They also recommend pushing back your cuticles.
2. open the package, select the right sizes for each of your nails for one hand
3. remove the clear top plastic, remove the backing paper, remove the tab
4. align the strip on the nail, and slowly and gently pull and smooth the strip down the centre of the nail
5. smooth down the strip, and wrap the tip, breaking off the excess polish strip
6. smooth down the edges to better adhere them with the enclosed tool
7. file off the excess polish
8. I then used the buffing tool to further buff the nail polish (with the hopes it would adhere well) and added two coats of clear top coat.

The claim

The proposed benefits of these strips is that you ‘don’t have to wait for your polish to dry’  - which is accurate… but applying the strips is in NO way quick and easy.  It was a bit finicky to get started, and I still ended up putting on the clear coat – so still had to wait for drying time…

Another benefit is the chance to have highly decorated nails, without the time or skill to really paint. This is entirely accurate – there is no way I would spend the amount of time needed to actually draw hearts, flowers, stars, swallows, text, etc on my nails.

Tattoo Much

The result

The finished product was good – but there were a few areas where the polish chipped (or more accurately, peeled off) while trying to apply it. Most of these were on the edges, despite my attentiveness to these areas.

The polish was super shiny, which I liked, and the polish lasted for 5 days (including a LOT of hand-washing, and a few encounters with masking tape which would normally peel off regular polish). On the 5th day I could see a few of the edges starting to pull up, so I removed the polish.  There isn’t any way to ‘push’ the polish back down again.  Other than the pulling up – the polish was in exactly the same condition as when I applied it – there was no further chipping or peeling.

Tattoo Much

The pros

• Getting the highly decorated look is a big pro – if you like decorated nails.
• The result is super shiny, which is awesome!
• Fairly long-lasting, and the tips didn’t seem to wear down as easily as regular polish.
• I read a few comments online that packs of 16 seems wasteful – as someone with large hands, I appreciate the variety of sizes, and didn’t see this as a con at all.
• The enclosed tools are useful.

The cons

• The strips need to be used immediately or they’ll dry out before you can use them.  If you’re trying to do this in little sets of time – do one hand at a time.
• Cost – For the price of one package, I could get a bottle of decent nail polish. With the package of Salon Effects, I get one application – but with a bottle of polish I get many applications. I wouldn’t bother getting the strips in a plain colour or simple pattern because if this – it just wouldn’t be cost-effective.
• Touch-ups are impossible. If I get a small chip or my tips wear off when I wear polish, it’s reasonably easy to touch the polish up – with these strips that is impossible.  Another reason why a highly decorated pattern is good…
• If the shape isn’t perfect, there are gaps – this doesn’t happen with regular polish, and is kind of annoying.