Red Paris Cloth

If you understand the weaving process I can tell you it has a warp of abaca fiber and a weft of polyester thread. This produces the soft, pliable weave. Remarks from milliner Diane S after testing it for us, “Abaca to be very soft and the polyester threads allow it to ravel easily so a quick lock down with a zigzag at the start solved that. I tried manipulating it many different ways and found it is delicate and can show marks where the threads slide. The threads pull easily to expose the straw. I like the character of those marks, the soft hand and sheen.” Applying glue before cutting will help to prevent fraying. Run a bead of glue along the cutting line and along the selvedge. When partially dry, it helps to flatten the glue bead and make the cutting easier. Once dry, trim off the selvedge and cut the abaca along the glue lines trying to cut so that part of the glue is on each side of the cutting line.