What do you do when you finish a doily?

[Itty Bitty]

I just finished my first doily. I used #10 cotton thread and it turned out to be around 5-6 inches in diameter. What now? Do I to block/ starch it? I've never done either of these before, so an explanation would be fantastic! Thanks in advance

[MarshaRice]

I just pressed my doily with the steam iron, and a bit of spray starch. I know alot of crocheters wash them, starch them, and block them. I personally could'nt be bothered, but I'm known to be a bit lazy.

[Granny Square]

Block yes, starch optional. I use spray starch, it does not make it stiff at all, just helps to give it a little body and keep it's shape.

 

I personally prefer not to iron doilies I think ironing 'smashes' the stitches, and won't work with dimensional stitches obviously. It is also a lot harder to get large doilies to come out symmetrical .

 

Find a piece of corrugated cardboard, some plastic wrap, and some rust-proof pins. If you are in the US, I've seen the pins in Wal-Mart. For the cardboard, you can also use a presentation board, which is foam with paper on each side, they're usually 20"x30". You can find thin ones at the Dollar Store that will work.

 

Lay plastic wrap over the cardboard. Wet the doily. Optional, spray liberally with starch and gently squeeze out excess starchy water. Pin out the doily, trying to keep it even; for a small doily like yours this shouldn't be hard, for a larger doily it helps to make a template.

 

Here is a site about blocking snowflakes, about a third of the way down is a link to a template for snowflakes. http://crochet.tangleweeds.com/blocking.html Oh! I just noticed there's one further down for doilies, too. I've made my own, and you may need different ones if your doily points are an unusual number, like 7, 9, 10.

[RoseRed]

^^^ What she said ^^^

[Katchkan]

I wash my doilies first, to remove all body oils from the thread and any dirt that it has picked up while being worked, then pin out on the board while wet. After pinning I spray with spray starch and let dry.

[bgs]

I just pressed my doily with the steam iron, and a bit of spray starch. I know alot of crocheters wash them, starch them, and block them. I personally could'nt be bothered, but I'm known to be a bit lazy.

 

This is what my mom always did with the doilies she had. She would never have used them if she had to pin them out after laundering them.

[specialK]

I have a question about washing? Hand washed? or gentle cycle on washing machine and also what kind of soap? I have, in the past, washed mine just with the rest of the whites. But I know this is wrong. lol please enlighten me

[Katchkan]

I have a question about washing? Hand washed? or gentle cycle on washing machine and also what kind of soap? I have, in the past, washed mine just with the rest of the whites. But I know this is wrong. lol please enlighten me

I always hand wash mine. I put too much time and effort into creating a thread piece not to take the little extra to protect it.

[RoseRed]

If it's a sturdy piece of fabric I'll put it in the washing machine. If it's lacy I hand wash.

 

I grew up doing it with my Grandmothers doilies and table runners. Every year we'd pull them out of the drawer, the sturdier ones went in the machine, the lacy ones went in the sink. The we starched and ironed them all so they'd be ready for display and put them back in the drawer.

 

I have a rose table runner in size 20 on the top of my piano that I just washed in the machine. I certainly wouldn't do it once a week but once a year - I'm ok with that. It's at least 50 years old. This is also why you use the best materials you can afford.

 

But, maybe Kathy's right. I can see how machine washing could be hard on the fabric. I think if I didn't grow up doing it I'd probably be horrified by the thought of it.

[mattenylou]

I have several pretty sturdy doilies, the ones I've made myself with #10 thread, that I toss right in the washer with my regular white clothes. When they come out of the washer, I lay them out flat on either the top of the washer or dryer overnight, they almost iron themselves when I do this.

 

The lacier ones and the family heirlooms I'm more careful with, I wash them by hand or on a gentler cycle. Sometimes I put the bigger pieces, table toppers, runners and big doilies, in the dryer for 10 or 15 minutes just to partially dry them and lay them flat on the dining room table or hang them off the back of the sofa to finish drying. (They seem to be a Cat Magnet, even if they are wet!!) Sometimes I clip the long runners to skirt hangers and hang them over the shower rod, after they are partly dried in the dryer. Running them in the dryer for just a short while gets rid of some of the weight so they don't pull at the clips.

 

I do use bleach on the white ones to keep them bright white, when I was a young, Mom and I used to lay them out on the grass so the sun would bleach them.... surprisingly, it really did!

 

I swear my 2 cats can sniff out a damp doily and come out of nowhere to plunk themselves on it and wrinkle it into a wad before it gets completely dry, I have to sneak around and make sure they don't see me. Almost every flat surface in this house has a dry doily on it 24/7, I don't know what the attraction is with these drying pieces!.