Blocking help

[Nicolecrochets]

I only crochet afghans with yarn which I never would need to block, however I am almost finished with my first ever filet project, our family name. It is all scrunched up and you really cant read it so I know it needs to be blocked, how do you suggest I do this? Thank you for any help!

[rshseaeagle]

This will depend on how scrunched up it is. There are 2 ways to block something like this - First - you can try to use some spray starch or spray sizing and iron it into shape. I usually try and do my doilies and such this way as I use them all the time and wash them regularly.

 

The 2nd way is to actually wet the filet piece, towel dry to remove most of the water (don't twist is, just pat it dry) and then lay it out and pin to shape (with rust proof pins!) on any type of material that the pins will easy stick into that is covered with waxed paper or cling wrap. I usually use a piece of a cardboard box or a very old cardboard cutting board for sewing with the squares printed on it. I know some use foam board and Katchkan has a special board she made up for blocking things.

 

Either way works great for me. If you are getting into things like snowflakes or other items that need to be really stiff, then you need to dip the piece into a sugar/water, glue/water, starch/water or commerical stiffener product to make it harder.

 

Hope this helps you out,

Toni

[GEMINI4659]

I use the pin in shape , spray starch iron method