Tutorial: Lame Trim by taeliac

EDIT: Was supposed to be lamé for the title, but apparently, the é was not acceptable... go figure. So, you're stuck with the title of "LAME trim".

~

Okay, here is another one of those "hey, I'm doing this right now, I wonder if anyone is interested in this being a tutorial? I mind-as-well take pictures just in case it helps."

Working with lamé trim can be a pain, but not impossible. Just remember, the larger the size of the piece you're working with (i.e. trim versus a skirt), the more wrinkled it will get, and the easier it will be to screw it up.

I personally don't like lamé except under certain circumstances - I love it as trim, so long as it behaves. There are many other alternatives out there, though, so I suggest that if lamé is giving you a hard time, look around and see what else there is that is shiny

...

I still think I get too wordy with tutorials, but ah well. You'll have to deal with it

Please forgive the horrible, horrible drawings, too. I can't help it - I only have a touch-pad to draw with at the moment, and there is so very little you can do with them...

JerseyDevilsAdvocate Featured By Owner Jan 30, 2018 Hobbyist Digital Artist

How did you get it to be less shiny in the last image? Light fabric paint?

taeliac Featured By Owner Feb 12, 2018 Professional Artisan Crafter

It was just the angle of the photograph, I didn't do anything to the lame. I am not sure how to get it to "tone down" the shine off the top of my head

Skye-Rhyder Featured By Owner Mar 19, 2017

Another thing is to use a stretch needle (usually for swimsuit type fabrics).

taeliac Featured By Owner Apr 18, 2017 Professional Artisan Crafter

A belated reply, sorry!

I never really had a lot of success with stretch needles, but I may give them a go again, thank you for the tip!

Skye-Rhyder Featured By Owner Apr 19, 2017

Also embroidery, metallic, or topstitch needles, if you need a sharp tip.

SewLolita Featured By Owner Dec 30, 2008 General Artist

Just a thought, but I found it is easier to work with when cut on the bias- the fraying is a lot easier to keep under control that way, so you don't have to clear little sparklies out of your serger for days afterwards

SewLolita Featured By Owner Dec 30, 2008 General Artist

I now know exactly where my ruffly lame shirt went wrong- apparently, about the time i thought it was a good idea in the first place

Andichan04 Featured By Owner Jul 28, 2008 Professional General Artist

I agree with your friend - whenever I go shopping and need something shiny, I always pass right by the lame with a repulsed look on my face. But this makes it seem more reasonable!

Please keep up the "oh I just thought I'd take pics while I'm making this" tutorials! They are so helpful!

And I don't think they're too wordy - I think they're hilarious, actually!

p.s. I found you through ACParadise. I was thinking of suggesting a "tutorials" section for their forums, what do you think?

taeliac Featured By Owner Jul 30, 2008 Professional Artisan Crafter

Yeah, I really dislike working with lame, but sometimes, it's all there is to it *sigh*

I'll definitely keep up with those! I have a couple more on my hard drive now, and I'm hoping to get them up soon, too

Just some more simple one's, but still, not so bad!

Ah! I haven't been on the ACP forums for ... ever, it seems! It's just so hard to keep up with all of them (and, it seems cosplay forums tend to breed drama, so I avoid that when I can

) but if they did something like that, I'd be game! I'll have to pop on by more often and see what I can do to help people, cuz it's fun

Icetigris Featured By Owner May 24, 2008 General Artist

I usually back my lamé with fusible interfacing so it's a little stiffer and easier to work with. It still frays like a bitch, though, so the serging the ends is a neat idea. I wish I had thought to do that on my Fire Emblem costumes sooner. Soooo many hours wasted folding moar to combat fraying edges.

taeliac Featured By Owner May 24, 2008 Professional Artisan Crafter

Ah! I never thought to do that, quite honestly

I like that a lot, too~ too bad it doesn't stop the fraying. So evil, so very, very evil...

Osa-Art-Farm Featured By Owner Jan 20, 2008

lmao. Love the hand drawn embellishments.
Lame is another enemy. A zipper in lame...now there's a nightmare for ya.

Janes-Wardrobe Featured By Owner Jan 12, 2008 Professional Artisan Crafter

Great tutorial (only just spotted it - too busy looking at other stuff I suppose) I don't think your tutorials are too wordy - but I think I'm guilty of being wordy myself

In the UK and France there's a great alternative to lame (I don't know how to create the accent without digging out my ascii codes

) It's a fine jersey (so it has a slight stretch - too much though and you wreck the fabric) with an ultra shiny coating of something that's not disimilar to PVC (but it's very thin so the fabric drapes beautifully) It hates hot irons, doesn't like being laundered much and tumble drying is a definate no no. It's much easier to use than lame, doesn't wrinkle anything like as much and doesn't have threads that snap - oh and it's not scratchy either

I've used it for some things - it has different properties and different applications but for shiny shiny trim it's fab!

Liquidfire3 Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

Very helpful indeed.

I hate working with that stuff!

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 24, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Me too!

And I found the only way to sew it onto something nicely is by hand - no topstitching XP

Liquidfire3 Featured By Owner Oct 24, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

LOL, yep, but it takes sooooo much time!

jhubert Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Added to the Art Tutorials Wiki

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Very cool - I have quite a few in my gallery, if you'd like to link to or whatnot with those, too

jhubert Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Well, you could add them yourself as well - this is a wiki.

Just go to the appropriate page on the wiki, click the "edit" button at the bottom of the page, enter the link to the tutorial in the same way as the other links, and save the result...

narutard94 Featured By Owner Oct 22, 2007 Student Traditional Artist

wow this is super awesome.

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Hehe, thank you!

Jinxzett Featured By Owner Oct 22, 2007

Cuz i am such a loser in sewing, i'll say that ur a professional.

xD

I can only sew skirts.. lol. not that i wear them though. (i mean like, i will wear one if i am a sisseh) Pants r my best frens... xD

say, i'll just put this tutorial to good use. Then i can sew a better costume! ^o^ Yeahhaa!

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 22, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Oh awesome! Thank you!!

Hehe, I love skirts

A friend of mine has declared herself "Anti-pants" because of having to sew them (and sew in zippers!)

Jinxzett Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007

Weh? Heeey, pants are the best ya know?? Its fun making pants!

...Well, to me at least.

;

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

*shivers* Pants scare the heck out of me... stupid fly zippers

((just finished making another pair of those in class today, like about an hour ago!))

Jinxzett Featured By Owner Oct 24, 2007

Lol. I had fun making them though. ^^ Well, different poeple, different opinions I guess. xD

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 24, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

INDEED! I am glad that there are poeple out there who actually enjoy sewing in general, tho - I was starting to feel like one of a very small handful XP

MedeaHiasobi Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

I MUST

this simply because I keep reading it as "lame." ^_^

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Ya. Because it IS LAME! Grr... ((trying to iron some now for trim/accent, and it's being a pain in the butt and fraying all over the place...))

MedeaHiasobi Featured By Owner Oct 25, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

I had a mental picture of you glowering at the lame(accentsymbol) and going "LAME!" as you have been known to do on occasion.

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 25, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

It is true. I did that while trying to slip-stitch it in place.

It was not a happy day yesterday...or the day before, I can't remember which...

FutureCarrotLab Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Hobbyist General Artist

I was wondering about the title too, but... well... for all the trouble it gives you, maybe it's appropriate? xP

Stuff like this will be really helpful if/when I ever start sewing anything beyond blankets (I love blankets so much though.. o.o; )

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

blankets, too - and they're so useful

FutureCarrotLab Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist General Artist

especially since it gets so cold in my room... luckily I have a small electric heater (our main heating doesn't reach the upstairs very well, if at all, so we can only heat the first floor of the house)

And when it's windy, it gets colder IN my room than it is outside... I'm not sure how that works...

Glasses break in my room when it gets that cold in the winter though... o.o;;

So what do I do? I put my bed with the long side up against the coldest wall in here because it's the most convenient for where I have to put my tv... which I never watch... o.o;

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

It sounds like your house is identical to mine! My bedroom is freezing, and the only thing I get from the "heat vent" is the noise... no heat what-so-ever! Gah. And I think it has to do with being so breezy (and if your house is like mine, the wind goes right through it XP)

Once I clean, I'll take pix of my room -- it's the same way! I put my bed in the worst place possible for the cold, but I can at least see the TV

I fall asleep to it most days, so... ya XP

FutureCarrotLab Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist General Artist

Yep, same here... I'm constructing a video of my room being cleaned, and have a small snipit of me talking about it and such and showing the differences... there's like... five videos now..

I think it's mostly to remind me to never let it get nearly that bad again... I don't want to let it get as bad as it is now again, either o.o;;

lachrymosity Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

Definately something I will keep in mind for future cosplay.

Thank you so much~! I love your mini-tutorials. They are extremely informative and very easy to understand.

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

Awesome! I am very happy to hear that

I'm always afraid that I'm way too wordy

lachrymosity Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

No way! Your tutorials are purrfect!

I hope you keep doing random tutorials occassionaly!

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

You bet I will

So long as I have a camera randomly floating around near whereever I'm working...

lachrymosity Featured By Owner Oct 26, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

Yay!

_{You are one of the most awesome people I have met on DA so far.}

*sneaks in a camera into taeliac's place* There, now that that problem is solved.

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 27, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

I should do that, and just have it set to stream as a web cam. People could see me freaking out and throwing things around the basement (without audio, of course!) It would be highly entertaining XP

lachrymosity Featured By Owner Nov 4, 2007 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

nyooo~! You must have audio too!!

lol, sorry but I love watching people freak out over things _{most of my friends are panicky types, and it very entertaining whenever they are in one of their -moods-}.

MissMaggie1860 Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007

Ya know. I still think Lame is about the most terrible thing ever to be called fabric. I actually think it capable of giving me nightmares.

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

I agree.

And it smells horrible when you melt it

Dragon-Nataku Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007

Actually I like what you may consider 'wordiness'. You include all the extra little hints that we may not have picked up from just looking at the pictures, which is what I find some tutorials like to do.

xD Now I wonder where my iron has run off to this time.

Lluhnij Featured By Owner Oct 20, 2007 Professional General Artist

I love your tutorials ^_^
A "lame" trim... lol! I admit at first ir made me rise my brow and wonder...

taeliac Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2007 Professional Artisan Crafter

I know! I thought it was entertaining, at least. I had a bad pun in the description before it told me it couldn't take the e with the accent, but I got rid of it *sigh*