Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

[Krista Potter]

 

I have been given permission from my church to have one of the ladies who is a seamstress make some performance table covers for us. I remember reading an article once upon a time which talked about what type (fabric content) and weight of pinwale corduroy was best to use. I don’t remember if it was an Overtones article, Handbells Magazine article, or an old Handbell L thread. Can I find it now? Of course not! Can anyone help me out with some advice?

 

Thanks,

Krista

 

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[Colin Walker]

When I did table covers a few years ago, I had a person I know order 21 wale corduroy from Kaufman Fabrics.  It was $6/yard in 2010.  The covers turned out really nicely.  Our covers have removable skirts, which Velcro on to the pads when we perform – the Velcro came from buyhookandloop.com – they were by far the cheapest I found.  I went with 4” knock-off Velcro on the pads.  Once the stuff came in, one of our congregation members who is a seamstress sewed the covers.

 

Colin

[Nicholas Barnard]

Krista,

Skip the Pinwale Corduroy, go for a nice smooth polyester. (I'll have to ask my resident artistic director and seamstress on the exact recommendation..)

I'm not sure where the handbell obsession with Corduroy came from, but its overdone and not questioned enough.

Nick

[F Simpson]

Kista,

Pinwale Corduroy had been serving the Handbell community for YEARS. It's dependable, reliable and it really makes plucking sound FANTASTIC.

Go with it. It's really a great choice and it looks great too.

Thomas

[Nancy Kirkner]

Hi, Krista, I wrote a series of articles on table covers at solobells.com.  They include fabric choices, pros and cons of making vs. buying, measuring, styles, construction, and other advice developed from personal experience making table covers.  You'll find the articles in the index under Sewing projects.  I would also be happy to answer questions privately.

Best -

Nancy Kirkner

Seattle

www.solobells.com

[Barbara Robinson]

Hi Krista,
I would stick with corduroy also.  Techniques work much better.  RB technique  works well even though I haven't seen to many pieces that includes this technique.
Good Luck.
Barbara Robinson

[Krista Potter]

Thanks, this sounds like what I have in mind. I remember reading somewhere about the recommended weight and fabric content for the corduroy.

 

Sent from Windows Mail

 

From: Colin Walker <colin...@gmail.com>
Sent: August 26, 2013 12:52 AM
To: handb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [HB-L] Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

 

When I did table covers a few years ago, I had a person I know order 21 wale corduroy from Kaufman Fabrics.  It was $6/yard in 2010.  The covers turned out really nicely.  Our covers have removable skirts, which Velcro on to the pads when we perform – the Velcro came from buyhookandloop.com – they were by far the cheapest I found.  I went with 4” knock-off Velcro on the pads.  Once the stuff came in, one of our congregation members who is a seamstress sewed the covers.

 

Colin

 

From: handb...@googlegroups.com [mailto:handb...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Krista Potter
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2013 10:30 PM
To: handb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [HB-L] Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

 

 

I have been given permission from my church to have one of the ladies who is a seamstress make some performance table covers for us. I remember reading an article once upon a time which talked about what type (fabric content) and weight of pinwale corduroy was best to use. I don’t remember if it was an Overtones article, Handbells Magazine article, or an old Handbell L thread. Can I find it now? Of course not! Can anyone help me out with some advice?

[Krista Potter]

Oh, no thanks. Been there, done that. The first church I directed at 25+ years ago had polyester table cloths when I started there. Hated them!

 

Sent from Windows Mail

 

From: Nicholas Barnard <ni...@inmff.net>
Sent: August 26, 2013 1:08 AM
To: handb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [HB-L] Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

 

Krista,

Skip the Pinwale Corduroy, go for a nice smooth polyester. (I'll have to ask my resident artistic director and seamstress on the exact recommendation..)

I'm not sure where the handbell obsession with Corduroy came from, but its overdone and not questioned enough.

Nick

On Aug 25, 2013, at 10:29 PM, Krista Potter <kristap...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Krista Potter]

Thanks, Nancy. Actually, I found your articles several months ago, and already printed them off to give to my seamstress. Good stuff!

 

Sent from Windows Mail

 

From: Nancy Kirkner <bell....@gmail.com>
Sent: August 26, 2013 1:30 AM
To: handb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [HB-L] Re: Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

 

Hi, Krista, I wrote a series of articles on table covers at solobells.com.  They include fabric choices, pros and cons of making vs. buying, measuring, styles, construction, and other advice developed from personal experience making table covers.  You'll find the articles in the index under Sewing projects.  I would also be happy to answer questions privately.

Best -

Nancy Kirkner

Seattle

www.solobells.com

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 10:29:55 PM UTC-7, Krista Potter wrote:

 

I have been given permission from my church to have one of the ladies who is a seamstress make some performance table covers for us. I remember reading an article once upon a time which talked about what type (fabric content) and weight of pinwale corduroy was best to use. I don’t remember if it was an Overtones article, Handbells Magazine article, or an old Handbell L thread. Can I find it now? Of course not! Can anyone help me out with some advice?

 

Thanks,

Krista

 

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[Kay Hessemer]

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 11:08:35 PM UTC-7, Nicholas Barnard wrote:

Krista,

 

Skip the Pinwale Corduroy, go for a nice smooth polyester. (I'll have to ask my resident artistic director and seamstress on the exact recommendation..)

I'm not sure where the handbell obsession with Corduroy came from, but its overdone and not questioned enough.

Nick

---------------

 

That would be me, Krista. Want opinions? I’ve got ‘em!

 

Ah, the mythical magic properties of corduroy! I was a seamstress long before I became a ringer, and have had some experience with several different table covering methods. Just because everyone says “We’ve always done it that way!” doesn’t mean it’s the only way. I suspect that corduroy has been the fabric of choice because it is relatively inexpensive but still has a rich, velvety look. Also, it’s a forgiving fabric and is much easier to sew than velvet. But it’s cotton, meaning heavy and prone to wrinkles if not stored properly. I have heard that it is used to cover the foam so that the wales will keep the bells from rolling, but most of the covered pads I’ve seen were made with the wales running across the pad from the viewpoint of the ringer, so I don’t know how that would stop rolling. Also, foam slabs covered with fabric never have exactly square edges. They produce little valleys between them into which bells (and pencils and mallets and the occasional cell phone) will happily slide.

 

I have seen Nancy Kirkner’s crushed velvet skirts combined with a corduroy ringing surface. I really like this classic, formal look; it suits her performance style perfectly. The crushed velvet looks lovely and by its nature doesn’t show wrinkles. She has several table skirts in different colors, although I have only seen the black set in person. There are photos on her web site.

 

For my first church bell choir I covered 8 30x36 foam pads with deep red corduroy with the nap running vertically away from the ringer, and I didn’t think the nap direction made any difference, but it was rather narrow-wale corduroy. We also made simple tablecloths from lengths of deep red damask (cotton/polyester from Joann Fabrics) to coordinate with the color scheme of the church. It was not necessary to have coverings reach all the way to the floor, so the tablecloths are 9 ft x 60”. I made at least three of them to accommodate varying table length needs. Also, the bells looked really nice on that dark red damask.

 

The community bell choir in which I now ring uses polyester fleece, a fabric I do not normally like, but which actually performs well as a table cover. They have long rolls of it, and we simply roll the fleece out over the foam and arrange it so that it touches the floor in front. We drape the corners nicely and sometimes pin on a decorative band around the top perimeter. Most of the foam pads are already covered in corduroy, so the covered table surface has gaps and valleys between the pads, but the fleece does seem to even them out a bit.

 

These experiences led me to design a completely different system for my quartet. We did this last spring and are very happy with it so far.

 

We purchased bare foam pads from an online vendor, all 30x36, and did not cover them. Instead, I made carrier bags from nylon pack cloth, each holding two pads, with webbing handles and a Velcro “envelope” closing on one wide side. When we line our foam up on our tables, there are NO gaps or valleys. I made our table covers from 60”-wide black polyester suedecloth. Each section is two widths sewn together, or 120” wide, with a tailored corner effect. We fit one around each end and overlap in the middle (flexible, because we may need anywhere from 12 to 21 linear feet of table, depending on how many bells we’re using). We use T-pins and black glass-head pins to tidy the corners and pin down the edges facing the ringers. The suede clings very nicely to the bare foam. It weighs much less than corduroy, doesn’t wrinkle much because it’s polyester, and looks cool in black. We keep it rolled up on a long cardboard upholstery fabric tube that I can carry with one hand. (Try THAT with corduroy!) The resulting ringing surface is a little firmer than usual, with only one thin layer of fabric over the foam, but it seems to damp the bells sufficiently as we lay them down. There is one overlapping edge on the ringing surface, but we pin it down in a couple of places and it does not cause us problems.

 

For rehearsals we don’t use the suede table covers, but simply drape a 6.5-yard length of black polyester fleece over the entire table length of foam. Although I have a strong personal distaste for all things polyester, I have to admit that good quality fleece has some advantages. The best thing is that each bell rim makes an impression in the fleece, so it is easy to see where to put the bell down. We may decide that we’d like a bit more cushioning under our suede covers, and I think a fleece layer underneath would be just right.

 

We have already traveled several times with the new foam and table cover components and find them fairly compact, lightweight, and easy to load, carry and set up, especially when there are only four people to do everything.

 

Your fabric and design choices do not need to be limited to corduroy or any other fabric type, for that matter. There are many ways to cover your tables, ranging from lightweight polyester to fleece, and any one of them may be a good choice for your group.

 

Good luck with your project,

 

Kay Hessemer

Seattle

 

 

[Doug Benton]

Hi, Krista

The use of pinwale corduroy probably came from Don Allured.  I remember he came to Phoenix in the mid 70's to do a workshop and brought several different table covers (felt, corduroy, polyester, and some kind of velvet, which is what we had) and 2", and 4" super-soft and medium density pads.  I was amazed at the difference in table stopped sounds - back then pretty much just plucking.  I dug up my old notes: felt did absolutely nothing - "sounded like kicking the wall", corduroy sounded very "rich", polyester had a "zing" to it with every plucked and more so during table damps, velvet, while looking pretty, was "equal to felt".  Additionally, 2" (which I had) did not produce nearly the sound that 4" did, neither did "medium" vs. "super-soft", which with 4" and pinwale corduroy far and away produced the best, richest sound.  Of course, that also meant very careful table damping in order to not produce a "whomp" - what I now refer to as a "roll-damp."  Another thing Don mentioned is a choir should use the same type covers in rehearsal as in performance which will give ringers the same sound when using stopped techniques.  Back then, several of us would use either bare pads or perhaps muslin covered in rehearsal, corduroy or whatever in performance.  If you can, try to get some large samples of various kinds of material (2' squares?) and test each for yourself.  You will be surprised as we all were!

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 10:29:55 PM UTC-7, Krista Potter wrote:

 

I have been given permission from my church to have one of the ladies who is a seamstress make some performance table covers for us. . .

[gj berg]

WRT rehearsal materials, I have some "1970s awesome" pink patterned corduroy that's put on top of (muslin-covered, with handle) pads.

--
gj berg
Elasmobranchology hopeful

[Karen Allen]

I still maintain that as a bassringer on the G3 through G4, corduroy stinks as a fabric on which to do rapid weaving techniques....

Karen allen

From: Nicholas Barnard <ni...@inmff.net>
To: handb...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 2:08 AM
Subject: Re: [HB-L] Corduroy fabric for handbell table covers? . . .

Krista,

Skip the Pinwale Corduroy, go for a nice smooth polyester. (I'll have to ask my resident artistic director and seamstress on the exact recommendation..)

I'm not sure where the handbell obsession with Corduroy came from, but its overdone and not questioned enough.

Nick

On Aug 25, 2013, at 10:29 PM, Krista Potter <kristap...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

I have been given permission from my church to have one of the ladies who is a seamstress make some performance table covers for us. I remember reading an article once upon a time which talked about what type (fabric content) and weight of pinwale corduroy was best to use. I don’t remember if it was an Overtones article, Handbells Magazine article, or an old Handbell L thread. Can I find it now? Of course not! Can anyone help me out with some advice?

 

Thanks,

Krista

 

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[Thomas Simpson]

Could be the foam density. 

Thomas 

Sent from my iPhone

[Krista Potter]

So what do you like, Karen? I directed at a church that had polyester when I first started directing, over 25 years ago. It was awful! This was a double knit polyester, like what they made the leisure suits out of back in the 70’s. There are different forms of polyester fabric, though. Someone else mentioned fleece worked well for them. I would never have thought to use fleece. I don’t hold out a lot of hope that this church will ever have more than 3 octaves of bells, but might as well dream big, huh? Right now we are playing on 2 octaves of Malmark Chimes, and they have just given me approval to order the 3rd octave of chimes. They promised me bells within 3 years, and I’ve been there a year. Trying to be patient, but this has been downright painful!

 

Sent from Windows Mail

[Nick Hanson]

I actually prefer corduroy when having to perform rapid bass passages because the amplification created by table damping on this fabric allows for a few extra milliseconds to get to the next bell.  This is one of the tricks I teach whenever I do a bass bell class.

Check how much sound carries over with a table damp, and then use that to your advantage. Corduroy is by far the best fabric for this trick (though as Thomas says, foam density counts, too).

Nick H.

[Kay Hessemer]

Nick, I thought I was the only one who counts on my bass bells resonating on the table to give me extra time, and even wondered if it was considered cheating! :-)

 

I've found that our quartet's combination of brand-new foam (fairly stiff), no muslin coverings on the foam, and relatively lightweight poly suedecloth seems to provide slightly less damping than the usual setup. We do get a really good malleted sound with the suedecloth. We actually dragged a case of bells and a slab of foam into our local Joann Fabrics store to try out different fabrics. We found no noticeable difference between corduroy and suedecloth, and chose the latter for both aesthetic and cost reasons.

 

Thomas is right; both the foam and the covering fabric(s) affect the damping and acoustic properties of the bells.

 

Kay

[F Simpson]

Did you all know . . . years ago Willard Markey invented and PATENTED an "anti roll" table pad! It had these channels that ran through it - I think. I only saw it the one time.

AND did you know??? He also holds (held) the patent on those table velcro-wrap-a-round skirts and top piece covers! His patent has expired by now of course.



Thomas

[mic...@thegoldendance.com]

You can do a google search on patents related to handbells. It is
fascinating what has been patented and by whom!

-Michèle

[Susan Nelson]

Yup, I did quite a bit of that while researching for the VHM.

Sue

Sent from my iPod