OT: Craft photos/was: Re: Re: Inspirations...(not the store lol//

[Guest guest]

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> > I have a question for whom ever made the crochet snow flakes; I

have

> > a question! Do you starch them?? I remember Mother doing that --

> > but she also starched the curtains and Oh! must not forget those

> > starched Easter dresses!

>

> You know, my sister and I were just talking about that today. I

> remember the day before a Brownie field trip, looking out the back

> door and seeing the starched Brownie uniforms hanging on the

> washline, and crying because I knew it was going to hurt to wear

it.

> Sundays were agony because of the net " full " slips. I would have

red

> welts on my legs by the time I got home, because of the

irritation.

> Starched clothing always hurt. I buy and wear natural fabrics -

> can't stand spandex or polyester or stuff like that. I wear the

> softest clothing I can find.

>

> As for the curtains that I crocheted, I bought a bottle of old-

> fashioned starch (not the spray kind). Some places you can still

get

> the old powdered laundry starch, but this stuff comes in a big 1/2

> gallon bottle. I diluted it only slightly, then hung the curtains

in

> my shower to let them drip dry, then used a steam iron and a spray

> bottle of water to dampen and iron and block them, because they

were

> too big to block like a doily. Ideally, you should have a wooden

> frame covered with muslin, I think, and pin the curtains to the

> frames to block them. I use starch for my doilies too, and block

> them on the foam core board described below. I use a ruler to

ensure

> that each diameter (point to point) is the same length. Most of

the

> books tell you to not press crochet, especially crochet with three-

> dimensional effects, such as Irish crochet. It flattens it too

> much. Blocking is much better.

>

> For snowflakes, you can use diluted Elmer's glue, but I use

bottled

> craft stiffener that looks, oddly enough, like Elmer's glue. ;D I

> dilute it somewhat to make it easier to handle. I have a foam

core

> board that I tape the six-line patterns on (intersecting lines at

0,

> 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, 330, 360 degrees), and

over

> that I tape wax paper with masking tape. I put the slightly

diluted

> goo in a plastic food storage bag, add a few snowflakes, squeeze

them

> out with damp paper towels, and block them with straight pins

> according to the patterns. I've had some trouble finding pins

that

> don't rust. I have some old pins (from the 60's, probably) that

I've

> had some trouble with rust spots if I leave the snowflakes pinned

too

> long. Newer pins don't seem to have that problem. I bought some

> brass quilting pins but I suspect they're too flexible for the

> blocking. I can block about 15 snowflakes on one bored - er -

> board. ;D My first board lasted about 3 years, through many

batches

> of snowflakes and doilies.

>

> I much prefer the actual crocheting to the stiffening and blocking

> and/or pressing. ;D

>

> Z

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