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Hello from artic Ohio!
I have recently purchased a bunch of glitter and prism tape from identi-tape, and love them! Unfortunately, though, I am ruining the tape trying to wrap my hoops. Whether I try wrapping the whole thing, or just an accent strip the tape does not flow smoothly and I am left with many creases and a general yucky overall appearance. I've seen so many beautiful hoops and I just can't figure out you guys do it!
I'm so used to the electrical tape that can be stretched and smoothed if need be. But I so want to add these fancier tapes. Do I have to work with small strips? I hate to do that, so many seams, then. Any help is appreciated!
I have recently purchased a bunch of glitter and prism tape from identi-tape, and love them! Unfortunately, though, I am ruining the tape trying to wrap my hoops. Whether I try wrapping the whole thing, or just an accent strip the tape does not flow smoothly and I am left with many creases and a general yucky overall appearance. I've seen so many beautiful hoops and I just can't figure out you guys do it!
I'm so used to the electrical tape that can be stretched and smoothed if need be. But I so want to add these fancier tapes. Do I have to work with small strips? I hate to do that, so many seams, then. Any help is appreciated!
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Cleveland
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 7:45 AM"Do I have to work with small strips?"
I find that if I cut the glitter tape down to strips about 2 feet in lengh its much easier for me to work with, then I just overlap the strips by at least 2 inches, and cover the edges with vinyl tape.
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 9:04 AMGlitter tape is hard to work with at first. Practice is definately key. I found that cutting the tape made it a lot easier to work with. Also, when you start wrapping a hoop, try using a somewhat narrow angle. It makes for a lot of glitter, but for some reason it is easier to get it to stay flat. You can then go over the glitter with a layer of electirc tape. Good luck.
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 9:04 AMI tape my hoops by laying the glitter tape first. I usually try to do it in one long piece at a 45-degree angle but I only pull the paper off the back about an inch or so at a time. I pull the paper back, run my thumb from outside to inside on the glitter tape, pull off another inch, run my thumb from outside to inside and so on. I keep a pair of scissors handy and when I need to periodically cut the paper backing to get it out of my way, I just let it drop to the floor and keep going. Once I have one whole circle of glitter tape around the whole hoop, then I take gaffers or electrical and lay it so it just covers the right edge of the glitter tape, I follow the right edge all the way around (being careful to not accidentally switch to the left edge as I pass the tape under) until I complete that whole wrap. Then I do one more wrap with gaffers or electrical on the right exposed edge of the glitter tape. Make sure to place it right on the edge but not to far in. You don't want to cover up your pretty tape with too much of the other tape. You just want to cover your edges to they don't peel up.
Hope this helps! -
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 10:06 AMIdenti-tape sells a tape splitter that lets you make your 1" tape into 1/2" tape while the backing is still intact... and the 1/2" is waay easier to wrap.
When I'm wrapping 1", I actually unwrap the whole roll and coil it around the hoop (so the hoop is inside a slinky of glitter tape that is still attached to its backing) and then peel the backing off one end and start wrapping, keeping a couple inches of stickiness exposed at a time, and cutting off the excess backing as it gets in the way.
Other wrapping options: Cut a whole bunch of small strips, and do bands of glitter tape all the way around, like my rainbow hoop in the main picture at christahoops.com Or, unwrap your roll and cut it into equal lengths (I like to do 5 sections), then divide your hoop into the same number of sections (use a piece of black vinyl tape to mark the beginning of each section) and do a tight spiral of glitter at the beginning of each section, then do something else in the gaps between the glitter spirals (I dig doing diamondweave with dayglo gaff tape on a black background - more texture, and crazy visuals!)
I protect my glitter tape with a layer of clear hockey tape, and then gaff or vinyl tape over the edges.
Whee! I wanna make a glitter hoop now!
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 10:22 AMWith glitter tape, I find that you cannot force it to do what you want, as you can with gaffers or vinyl. You need to start with the angle you want and then just let the tape continue aroundthe hoop, without trying to manipulate it to another angle. Since the tape is so rigid it will automatically keep the perfect distance between itself while you wrap it.
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Re: Glitter and specialty tape problems :(
Thu, February 8, 2007 - 5:47 PMGood suggestions from every body. But my two cents:
Its all about how you sit/hold your hoop when taping. I sit on a couch with the hoop stading on the floor perpendicular to my body and I hold it with my KNEES. (So I have two hands free). Pick your angle then pull the backing down to expose a few inches of tape. I set the roll in my lap and only worry about moving the ROLL around the hoop after I've laid a few wraps of tape down. You always have two hands on the tape you are actually putting on the hoop. After a few wraps, cut away the excess backing, wrap the roll around the hoop to untagle it and repeat. Remember the hoop is between your knees, the roll is in your lap....You have two hands to make the tape go on smooth!
