Caring for cotton crochet clothing

[Aztec_goddess]

I just finished crocheting a dress, I made it with Aunt Lydias thread size 10. I wore it yesterday and it stretched out.... a lot. Is this normal? How do I prevent it from stretching while wearing it? How do I wash it? How do I dry it? Will it shrink? I’m new to crocheting with thread, I’d really appreciate it if someone could help me out. Thanks in advance ☺️

[Granny Square]

That is drop dead gorgeous!!   

I make a lot of thread doilies, but not thread clothing so far.  But I have made cotton yarn tops, and yes they do stretch during wear, but alas I don't know how to stop that; my tops weren't lacy, I imagine lace would stretch even more.  I just toss them in the washer and dryer at low/medium heat, and they have not shrunk smaller than the original size but 'undo' the little bit of stretching that happens when you wear them.

I think I'd not put your beautiful lace in the washing machine but rather hand-wash in warm water, and maybe put in the dryer at low/medium for a short time to knock some of the water out, and lay it flat and 'block' it by patting it into shape on a flat surface to dry the rest of the way (I've used a plastic table cloth over a spare bed or the floor to "casual block' big things).

[magiccrochetfan]

Wow that is really pretty!  I love the stitch patterns you used.  

 

[ReniC]

What a pretty dress! I've never made a woman's size dress but, I did make baby and small girl's dresses for my daughters back in the day (late 1960's), I didn't really have a problem with stretching because the dresses then were short for little girls so they didn't sit on them much. I washed them in the washing machine on gentle/lingerie with Woolite but wrapped them in a towel and squeezed the water out by hand. Then, laid the dresses flat to dry on a dry towel and of course, then ironed to block.