Making your own extra-swell tartan flashes

[Barb T]

Elegantly simple Barb! One question, does the fusible web keep the tartan from unraveling at the notch?

Some of the fusible web I've tried in the past doesn't do a very good job preventing fraying. But this new Steam-A-Seam stuff that I've just discovered really fuses well to the tartan, and you can pick at the notch with your fingernails and not get the tartan threads to pull out. I suppose it depends on how hard you are on your flashes, though. If you were worried about it, you could use a little Fray-Check on the back side.

Barb

[Rex_Tremende]

I have been wanting to try a method like what Barb describes with the scraps of MacGillivray she sent with my kilt. Though to give tartan stability and to keep it square as I would work with it (largely to match stripes), I wanted to block it square and press a layer of one-sided fusible interfacing across the entire inside surface of the tartan before I cut it down to intermediate size. Next, I'll fold the sides over the back, press flat, and then apply another strip of interfacing nearly the width of the finished flash down the back. This is the way the the flashes I purchased were constructed as far as I can tell.

I'm having difficulty finding thin, black, single-sided fusible web, though. I may look at upholstery shops next.

I made denim flashes from an old pair of jeans a few weeks ago using a thicker, two-sided fusible interfacing, being sure to press the raw edges as close to each other as possible to minimize length-wise fraying. Because the webbing was so thick, I left the top inch or so of the flash fuse-less to make it easier to stich down the loops in the second-to-last step and I did not apply a second layer of webbing on the outside.

Regards,
Rex.

[Bugbear]

Cool Rex. I've been wondering in the back of my mind if flashes could be made from non-wool materials like jeans to go with my canvas kilts. That's a neat idea.

[turpin]

Barb included a pair of these flashes with my Macdonald of Sleat tank. They are really...really nice. Flexible, cleanly made. No one can have an excuse fo not making tartan flashes now, if they have enough scraps to do so.

[Barb T]

I have been wanting to try a method like what Barb describes with the scraps of MacGillivray she sent with my kilt. Though to give tartan stability and to keep it square as I would work with it (largely to match stripes),

Hi Rex

Actually, the tartan stays nice and square without having to go through the extra step of stabilizing it. And not including stabilizer makes the flashes less stiff.

BTW - Do you need me to send you more scraps of MacGillivray?

B

[Rex_Tremende]

Actually, the tartan stays nice and square without having to go through the extra step of stabilizing it.

Ah, but you have no idea how clumsy I am. Stabilizer is my security blanket!

BTW - Do you need me to send you more scraps of MacGillivray?

Not yet. I think I have enough, but I'll let you know after my next attempt(s).

Thanks, Barb!

R.

[pipesndrumsnun]

Thanks for the tip and the great how-to pics and instructions, Barb! I'll have to try this some time (maybe over Christmas break!)!

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

I'm off to Joanne's tomorrow, to get Steam-A-Seam for X-Marks tartan flashes. The whole sewing a tube, then turning it inside out, slipping a piece of this fusible material inside and ironing it is appealing-then they would truly be reversible flashes.

Thanks Barb!

Be well,

[ChattanCat]

I'm off to Joanne's tomorrow, to get Steam-A-Seam for X-Marks tartan flashes. The whole sewing a tube, then turning it inside out, slipping a piece of this fusible material inside and ironing it is appealing-then they would truly be reversible flashes.

Thanks Barb!

Be well,

But where will you put the seam?
I sewed some with the seams on the side:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/m...845/index.html
sorry the pics are bad, did them with my cell phone.

[Barb T]

But where will you put the seam?

The drawback to putting the seam on the sides is that you wind up with a ridge 4 thicknesses thick along the edges and only two thicknesses thick at the center. And the fusible web only sticks to 2 sides, so, at the seam edges, you can't really stick everything together. So it doesn't produce the really nice, flat, smooth flashes that you can get without a seam.

Anyway, there are lots of ways to make flashes! Certainly no one right way.

Hogs and quiches,

B