Saturday, July 16, 2011

Uni-Stretch/Nylon-Stretch Alternative

I found this tip while surfing on the world wide web, so its not my idea and lay no claims to it!

Uni-Stretch/Nylon-Stretch comes spooled on the standard sized bobbins and costs about $1 for 30 yards.



The alternative I found during that surfing trip is a product called "Wooly Nylon" and costs about $3 for 1000 meter bobbins or $3 for 1093.61 yards (I'll let you do the math). "Woolly Nylon" is used in the garment industry for rolled hems and edges, ruffles, swimwear, aerobic wear, kids clothes, knits and lingerie.



This material works great for

Caddis Larva



Streamer Bodies



Soft Hackles



This material can be used for an under body filler to build up fatter fly bodies.

You can use your favorite marker and on the thread itself or after the body has been wrapped. The caddis larva was coated with an apple green Sharpie marker, followed by a coat of bug bond and the sally hansens

Not everybody is going to use this material or even use Uni-Stretch/Nylon-Stretch but at least there alternatives to use.

One more alternative is a tread called "Bulky Nylon" which is approximately the same as "Wooly Nylon" but slightly thinner. "Bulky Nylon" can be purchased at Joann Fabrics stores. This product also is 1000 meters long and comes in a rainbow of colors.



Wolly Nylon was bought on amazon.com

Thanks for looking

3 comments:

Mark said...

Thanks for sharing! I'll have to see if the local craft shops carry this. Looks like the perfect solution for a durable body on a 'fishing fly' in the classic style, or, like you suggested, using the white as an underbody on classic streamers.

Mickalo said...

always nice to find these alternative materials that work just as well for less cost. thanks for the great tip.

Mike

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the information. I'll have to look around the house now! I asked my mom if she had any of the 6 strand embroidery floss I needed to start trying my hand at tying woven nymphs. She said she had a couple. A couple turned out to be over 400!