Does anyone have experience working with a horsehair braid? I’m trying to use it in a collar to make it stand up and really ruffle. I thought I could sew it taught along an inner circle, but maybe I’m starting down a path of disappointment. It looks like I’d probably need a second string through the middle to tighten to keep it flat and prevent bubbling. If anyone has done anything similar I’m definitely open to feedback.
I 've never used horsehair braid.
Unfortunately I’ve never used horsehair braid for a collar, but I have used it for a circle skirt. In my case, I used it along the outside edge rather than the inside edge. It definitely still took a lot of work trying to keep it flat. Another route that may be useful for you is sewing fishing line into the outer hem. I don’t have any personal experience using fishing line, but I’ve seen it used to create similar ruffles. It may also be much less bulky for your collar than the horsehair braid.
2 Likes
I’ve done some research online and it looks like you can squish the top flat when you sew so it’s bunching in the correct direction as opposed to hand sewing it flat first.
I’m needing the collar to defy gravity so unfortunately fishing line is out. Do you think interfacing would be a better way to go?
Or maybe interfacing with the fishing line to give it that wave?
Whoah! You’re right, that’s definitely defying gravity. What type of fabric are you using and how stiff and light is it? I’m wondering if a stiff organza might help. If you have enough scrap fabric, interfacing may be worth a test but I’m not sure how well it would achieve those elegant ruffles. You may be on the right track with horsehair braid if you can get it to cooperate with you.
1 Like
Soooo I’m using a very flimsy but opaque… Polyester spandex if I remember correctly. I may not have enough for the finished product because I bought the whole bolt but I figured I could cheat and use a different fabric where the red hides it. But I needed something flowy for the sleeves because anime artists don’t care about textile consistency 
.
That said I have some slightly heavier polyester spandex and a similar weight polyester Rayon, both of which I got for the sole purpose of mockups. I did a paper pattern and using a double circle skirt for the collar allowed me to have a straight no bunching seam along the collar-blouse attachment but pretty ruffles at the top. I probably need a 1 1/2 circle but my math on that is shoddy. The single circle pattern wasn’t ruffly enough. The double circle might be overpowering. Other conundrum is it works on paper but that’s obviously a different weight and stiffness. I can sandwich either interfacing or horsehair braid I think. Essentially my plan is to hand sew it to an almost identical pattern to the red so the red hides the main body and the collar more or less looks like it’s all one piece as opposed to a separate attachment. Just been struggling with how to get that gravity.
Sorry for the long post, I’ve been at this a couple months now. I’ve got the red layer but I’ve been a little unsure what to do with the pink. I think next step is probably to do a mockup one with interfacing and one with horsehair and go from there. I do like your suggestion of the fishing line. I may put that at the top of the interfacing. It might act like a wire and keep things kinda wavy and not as weighed down by the interfacing.
1 Like
The only time I used horsehair before, it was only about a quarter-inch wide, and was sewn along the very edge of the fabric to make it billow. (I think I was making a dancehall girl outfit for a giant rag doll.) what about seeing if you could find a very lightweight wire screening that could be sandwiched between two layers of your fabric? Or soak the collar in “STIFFY”? That stuff is kind of interesting. I was going to an event as the witch under Dorothy’s house in Wizard of Oz once. I just made a house hat out of foam core and colored charcoal paper. But needed a tornado. I wrapped yards of dark grey yarn around a styrofoam cone, and slathered STIFFY all over it. After drying, pulled out the styrofoam form. Poof! 3D tornado.
Edit:
https://www.joann.com/plaid-stiffy-fabric-stiffener-16-oz/1419613.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-Pw6u5zlCu1ZHuzPFKr1eib9AYDv8RCH8-Fs_U93K3NmHzRVfIsvLcaAoWSEALw_wcB
2 Likes
Oh how interesting! Would love to see your costume. Thank you for the link, I’ll look into that or your idea of what else I might be able to sandwich