Last night I finished up the body of my 3/4(ish) UQ project. Finished size is 45" wide and 58" long with ~1" baffles and 6 oz of down. This is my first real DIY project and I am super proud of it thus far...even if I wouldn't ever let anyone look to close at any of the stitching.
My next step is to work on the hanging hardware and I have been planning to do a Crowsnest-style grossgrain channel all the way around the quilt. I bought the cord and grossgrain from Quest Outfitters a while back. I got the 1" grossgrain which seemed like the right choice at the time, BUT I did a mod on old sleeping bag and cut the hood off and converted it to a quilt. At the top, where I removed the hood, I used some of the grossgrain and ran a cord through it so I can tighten it down around my neck and shoulders. The problem seems to be that the grossgrain is too stiff making it really hard to tighten up the cord inside. The ribbon fights to hold it's shape and doesn't want to gather very well when I tighten up the cordlock.
I'm a little afraid to start the effort to put this same ribbon around the quilt if I am going to be ripping it out at the end because it doesn't work.
Any advice? Is there a way to "soften" it up? Does it start to "work in" over time? Would it be better if I ordered some 1.5 inch grossgrain from Quest? Or should I go buy some of the lesser quality/strength stuff from the local JoAnns?
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