Fringe length

[wyo_rose]

Hello y'all. I'm new to the boards, and have been dying to ask about shawl fringe length. I used to always go with the standard chainette length of 14", but have been noticing everyones fringes getting longer and longer. Some girls' fringe even touches the ground.

The last shawl I made I went with 18 inches, thinking it was long. But after seeing it in action it was only medium compared to others.

How long do you have your shawl fringe? And do you think fringe touching the ground is TOO long?

[Riverwoman]

I have seen it all lengths. My fringe on my shawl set from fancy star is 22', though I suppose the shawl will be cut to match the length. Fringe touching the ground is a bit long, maybe a problem, it all depends on how you hold your shawl and things like that:)

[wyo_rose]

Wow, 22"!! I guess I'll stay in the 18 - 20" range from now on.

If your fringe is ribbon, do you fray check or singe the ends? I like to singe, but then it gets the little burnt hard things sometimes that catch on the other ribbons and hangs up. I don't like the way fray check changes the color, though. Is there something else to do with the ends??

[ndngirl]

I'm new to the boards too. :)
I've seen one lady's shawl that had a small zig-zag stitch sewn on the bottom of each ribbon. It still unraveled a little but only as far as the zig-zag stitch.

[}!{ tinkerbell }!{]

Oh my!! Zig zag stithcing all of the ribbons!! That would take a long time! I usually just burn the ends of my ribbon. As for the length....I make them anywhere from 18"-22".
:Wave

[wyo_rose]

Hmmmm. Maybe I'll just keep burning.

By the way, have you seen Jackie Bird's multicolored fringes?? How in the world does she do that? Never mind, how does she make her shawls that shape!!

Check out her awesome outfits
http://www.outlawforpeace.com/jbird/designs/
and there's more hidden on different pages.

[Czechy]

It looks to me that Jackie paints her fringes. My past experiments with polyester ribbon and RIT dye were disappointing. That was before I learned that synthetic materials do not accept dye very well. Natural fabrics work best, i.e. cotton, wool, linen and silk.

I like 18" fringe on my shawls.

[waleli]

I always use Fray Check - never had a problem w/ it !

[Roobz]

I bought a shawl from a girl who used clear nail polish on the ends of the ribbon so it wouldn't fray. As for the length I like the way the shawls spin when the fringe is long and shawl a little shorter than usual, like Crystal Cleveland's. Jackie Bird's are real nice. Her daughter Jocy has nice outfits too, it looks like she uses flagging tape for her fringe and it flows nice. It might be true what Czechy said about painting the fringes, cuz I know sometimes at Jackie's shows they use blacklights and some of her regalia is painted so therefore it glows and has a cool effect!

[wyo_rose]

Hey, finger nail polish!! I don't know why I didn't think of it before, cuz I use it on alot of other things, like quill earrings, and repairing beadwork.

Back to Jackie Bird: Over the weekend I made a skirt for a girl to match a shawl given to her by Jackie Bird. I was so excited. I saw the shawl later at our pow-wow, and it had the flagging tape fringe. It looked awesome!!

[fncyshwldncr4life]

WOW, Ive never heard of Jackie, but i checked out the outfits..Those have got to be the most gorgeous fancy shawl regalia i have EVER seen!! Amazing! :JawDrop

[fncyshwldncr4life]

I guess i could talk about fringe..aye.. lol

Personally (just my opinion) i like the longer fringe- to the ground- mine is almost 3 ft. long ( keep in mind im almost 6 ft. tall too) i just think its much prettier when you out there dancing and you see all the swaying fringe. Ribbon of course, not regular fringe- unless its the flat fringe. But like I said, this is just my opinion. :)

[wyo_rose]

Wow, 3 feet!! That must be very beautiful. I'd love to see you dance sometime.

What's your opinion on the flagging tape fringe? When I first heard about it, I thought, "EEWW, flagging tape". But on the shawl made by Jackie Bird, it looked very cool in action.

[ogapahndn]

I too like the longer fringe. Not sure about the flagging tape. I think I'll leave that to the fancy dancers! I like the way ribbon moves.

[MayChe]

amanda big mountain and her sister tara use flagging tape for fringe and attached it with hot glue. it looks good if you cut the tape in half because it looks alittle odd if left that wide. the down side to flaggins tape is that repetitive stepping on it leaves a trail around the arena.