How do I make a strap not stretch?

General Knitting
1

Okay ladies and gents, I sewed in the lining for my purse and I did use the whipstitch. Eh, it’s alright :shrug: Nothing to write home about, anyway I digress…

I made the strap out of the same yarn and I’m having the darndest time not making it stretch. Of course having lots of stuff in it doesn’t help the stretch factor, but has anyone made a purse strap that doesn’t stretch??

And if you did, how do I do it???

2

well the trick i heard was to run a cord through the inside of the strap. i would assume it works, it makes sense anyway, but i haven’t ever done it. mostly because i never seem to actually ASSEMBLE the purses that i make. :hiding:

3

I’ve heard some will sew a strip of fabric down the side that rests on your body/shoulder that will help the stretch factor :shrug:

4

yep, I made a guitar strap for dh, just line the back of the strap with some fabric. I used cordoroy from an old pair of pants, and it works great. puts the weight on the fabric rather than the yarn.

5

The problem with that is it’s a braided cord, with 4 separate I-cords knit and then braided together. I braided the 3 like a normal braid then I just weaved the 4th strand through the strap. So it’s not a flat strap.

Know what I mean??

What kind of cord would I use??? :?? It’s a pretty thin strap.

6

you could use hemp cord , you can find it near the beads in a craft store. i would thread it down the middle of your icord, one or all 3 cords, then braid them together. should offer less stretch, and the yarn would act as a bit of padding.

7

Thanks Jeanius80 I’ll give that hemp cord a try.

I tried to reply last night, but I couldn’t get on the website!! Thanks again!

8

I always stretch my strap first when I block it, and then line with a heavy fabric like cotton trigger, machine sew all the way around and down the middle of the strap. it cannot stretch a centimeter after that.

9

Hey!! I just found some extra shoelaces of my hubby’s and used that to make it not stretch!! Brilliant if I do say so myself. (patting myself on the back :teehee: ) They’re brown and so is my purse!! What luck. :cheering: :cheering:

10

clever knitter! :teehee: i was just reading stephanie pearl-mcphee, and dear, i believe you would be an ‘level 4’ aka you would knit with grass and two sticks if thats all you could get your hands on :roflhard: [size=2]me tooo[/size]

11

I once made a felted bag that had vinyl tubing in the icord to make a pretty sturdy handle. It was flexible and will definately stand the test of time. It comes in various widths. :shrug: