How I block a Guetermann sewing thread doily

[Veronika Rohrhofer]

This is how I block my Guetermann sewing thread (C Ne 50) doily when I have one with the same pattern made before. I use Hoffmanns liquid starch and brush it on the newly blocked doily having a cling wrap between the two doilies. I remove the excess starch with a tissue paper and I preferably let it dry in the sun or over night.

[bgs]

Thats very clever.  Do you mind sharing your set up for your blocking board?  Right now I use pizza boxes with cling wrap across the top.

[Veronika Rohrhofer]

31 minutes ago, bgs said:

Thats very clever.  Do you mind sharing your set up for your blocking board?  Right now I use pizza boxes with cling wrap across the top.

Brenda, my blocking board here in Australia is also "auxiliary". It is a Styrofoam lid from a box, which I have covered with kitchen roll paper and cling wrap. If I have something bigger to block I put two boards together. If I block a doily with a new pattern I draw a circle of the approx. size with a pencil on the kitchen roll paper and cover it with cling wrap and block it on my Styrofoam board.

It is ok to share my set up!

[bgs]

Thank you!   Now that you mention it I can see how the denser styrofoam used for boxes would work much better than the coarse craft styrofoam.  I had been wondering what to do if I needed to block something larger than my cardboard pizza box.   I can see how two of your boards would work well together. 

[Startigerlily]

That's great to see. Thanks for sharing!

[Granny Square]

Bgs, you can get thin (about 1/4") Styrofoam boards at the Dollar Store that I think are 24x36", or thicker ones (about 1/2") at the craft store for about $5 (that was a while ago..).  They are much denser Styrofoam than the normal stuff used as packaging (so hold up much better), and have paper on both sides - I think they are called 'presentation boards', like a student would use to post results for a science fair.

I cover them with plastic like Veronika has done, and between the board and the plastic I put a polar graph with the right number of angles for the doily - in Veronica's example, 12.

 

[bgs]

55 minutes ago, Granny Square said:

Bgs, you can get thin (about 1/4") Styrofoam boards at the Dollar Store that I think are 24x36", or thicker ones (about 1/2") at the craft store for about $5 (that was a while ago..).  They are much denser Styrofoam than the normal stuff used as packaging (so hold up much better), and have paper on both sides - I think they are called 'presentation boards', like a student would use to post results for a science fair.

I cover them with plastic like Veronika has done, and between the board and the plastic I put a polar graph with the right number of angles for the doily - in Veronica's example, 12.

 

Thank you for sharing.  I had never thought about those.  

[Avon Lady]

I use ceiling tiles.  You can buy them at places like Menard's, Lowe's, or any building materials store.  They are usually less than $1 each, and you can reuse them countless times.  I mostly use the 12" square ones, but you can buy the 24" square ones for the bigger projects,  If you want bigger ones, just join them like you would for a ceiling.  I cover them with waxed paper or saran wrap, and use straight pins.

[bgs]

1 hour ago, Avon Lady said:

I use ceiling tiles.  You can buy them at places like Menard's, Lowe's, or any building materials store.  They are usually less than $1 each, and you can reuse them countless times.  I mostly use the 12" square ones, but you can buy the 24" square ones for the bigger projects,  If you want bigger ones, just join them like you would for a ceiling.  I cover them with waxed paper or saran wrap, and use straight pins.

Another good idea!

[Bacornel]

On 4/10/2018 at 9:10 PM, Avon Lady said:

I use ceiling tiles.  You can buy them at places like Menard's, Lowe's, or any building materials store.  They are usually less than $1 each, and you can reuse them countless times.  I mostly use the 12" square ones, but you can buy the 24" square ones for the bigger projects,  If you want bigger ones, just join them like you would for a ceiling.  I cover them with waxed paper or saran wrap, and use straight pins.

That's a great idea!  I use cork board and push pins, but I have some big doilies i need to block, and trying to figure out how to make a larger blocking board.  I am trying to keep it lightweight, and not in the way when I store it.  I will keep the ceiling tiles in mind while shopping today.