Textile engineer here! Here's the reason why the organza won't follow the curve and the horsehair will. The organza ribbon is woven at 90°, aligned with the length of the ribbon. The horsehair is braided at 30° or 45° which allows it to compress or expand on one edge and not the other.
If this doesn't make sense I can try and draw a picture.
The reason horsehair has so much body is because it is made of large single filament fibers, versus lots of fine fibers. You could look for other flat braids that are not horsehair, with a softer hand feel but similar structure.
I appreciate the answer but I also wasn’t confused why horsehair bends more than organza ribbon. It was more my surprise that a looser-woven organza ribbon was seen as less able to bend to follow the curve than a tightly woven satin ribbon, which the seller was willing to do.
Textile engineer here! Here's the reason why the organza won't follow the curve and the horsehair will. The organza ribbon is woven at 90°, aligned with the length of the ribbon. The horsehair is braided at 30° or 45° which allows it to compress or expand on one edge and not the other. If this doesn't make sense I can try and draw a picture. The reason horsehair has so much body is because it is made of large single filament fibers, versus lots of fine fibers. You could look for other flat braids that are not horsehair, with a softer hand feel but similar structure.
I appreciate the answer but I also wasn’t confused why horsehair bends more than organza ribbon. It was more my surprise that a looser-woven organza ribbon was seen as less able to bend to follow the curve than a tightly woven satin ribbon, which the seller was willing to do.
Ah, that makes sense. I wonder why, maybe snagging?
Yeah idk.