I hate purse straps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you guys do purse straps standing up? Do you build it onto wire or what?

I made gumpaste straps earlier in the week and was using them today and they had to be the flat kind of strap...and of course both of them cracked/broke so I had to use skewers to prop them up...(I had toothpicks in the ends, but they didn't go in right so had to clip them off but you can still see a small bit of them sticking out...) anyway also had to wrap a piece of "leather" fondant around the tops to hold them together, lots of brown royal icing...and now I have to go patch up all the holes I made with the skewers and I have no clue how the guy is going to drive it 1 1/2 hours home tomorrow. *sigh*

My hubby said I need to build them on wire but I'm not sure how I'd do that and still have them look flat and smooth. I know I gotta figure out something because this is stressing me out!!!

I can get the rounded straps to work okay but this is the second time I've made flat straps and had them mess up on me. Can't keep doing this....

How are you drying them (laying down, propped up??) I am trying to visualize the trouble you are having. (I am a very visual person, if I see it, I have better luck figuring it out)

Are they all gumpaste? Would they maybe have a little tiny bit of flexibility if you did 50/50? Gumpaste dries so hard and brittle.....(just throwing this out there)

No they were actually too flexible (and yes fully gumpaste)....I would have loved for them to be rock hard.

They had only 3 days of dry time since it was a last minute order, maybe that's the issue...I dunno. It was Satin Ice gumpaste but had to add quite a bit of color into it to make the brown color.

OK - I get it now. If I have a piece I need to dry faster than usual, I set it up with a small fan to blow on it (and keep turning it like you did) That seems to speed up the process some. Your fix will work fine, I am sure! Good luck!

I don't know if I'm more mad about the straps breaking, or all the skewer holes in my otherwise perfect fondant when I had to prop the straps to let some royal icing dry. *Sigh* Oh well its done for tonight.

Pearl spray and glitter dust does hide some problems, but not all.

what about straps like this?
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1194687.html

Will they snap, warp or tear as the gumpaste straps are dangling?

bump

i find the SI GP takes ages to dry and then it never really dries hard. I prefer not to use it now. Could you support the straps underneath with an invisible piece of acetate sheeting perhaps.

kitagirl, I have tried the loops before. I rolled a long sausage, threaded a wrire through, shaped it, and let it dry. The first one I used heavy guage wire, and the wires actually opened up, after I thought the gumpaste was dry, inside the cake and sprung clean through the sides of the purse.

I patched it, made another handle using a lighter guage wire, and it worked perfectly. HTH

That is a great idea!!! Kita - if I am understanding her - she is making a thick sausage, then putting the wire through that. THEN she makes it flat and forms the shape of the handle. I never would have thought to do it that way.

Ohhh okay. Well would that still work if you then roll the handles flat? I've done the "sausage" shaped handles before and they were fine.

Uploading the pic now...it looks okay but there are several things about it I'm really not happy about, I could do better.

Yes, I bet it would work out perfect (and you can see right away if you're messing it up!) I know I will try it that way for the next purse I have to make. (and Kita, I know yours is going to be just fine even though it gave you trouble!)

I've not made the flat purse straps, but I have found that the Nicholas Lodge gumpaste dries quicker and harder than SI. Sorry that happened, I know its so stressful.

I might have to find a new gumpaste...the SI seems to work fine for flowers and figures but I have yet to find anything that will dry rock hard enough for larger pieces.

Can't tell you had any problems with the cake! It loods beautiful!!

Kitagirl - it is fabulous!! It looks flawless!!!

You can also use a plastic tube, like those for a fish aquarium. You can get those at Home depot or any pet store. You cut the size you need and Then you cover it on fondant. hope this help.

Thanks guys! I know things look better in the photo but really in person you can see alot of flaws that should not be there....especially the strap connectors and the top of the cake which ended up getting skewers as a last ditch effort to prop the handles while I used royal icing on them. And I do not like that the pink is a different color on the logo, on the real purse it should match the color of the rest of the fabric.

Oh well! Onto the next projects (cupcakes done today, cake iced and ready for fondant...hubby was SO sweet and took the two little guys to McD's to play so I wouldn't have to clean the kitchen for lunch and then get my stuff all out again!!!!)

Here's one idea for you: Plastic strips. I took a purse class a few months ago. we made the straps from strips of plastic from an old fondant bucket and then covered the plastic in gumpaste.

the sausage I was referring to was about as thick as your thumb. About 5 inches long. I fed the wire through, and then continued to roll the sausage longer, making sure the wire stays roughly in the middle of the roll. Then I shaped it into the shape I wanted, and let it dry.

ABOUT THE SPEED DYING THING, I USE A DEHYDRATOR FOR TONS OF SUFF, FONDANT PLAQUES, LETTERS, FLOWERS, ANIMALS ETC... HERE IN ARKANSAS, FONDANT AND OUR WEATHER OFTEN DO NOT COOPERATE. THE DEHYDRATEOR WAS MY HUSBANDS IDEA YEARS AGO AND IT SURE HAS SAVED LOTS OF TIME AND FRUSTRATION.

Thanks