Help with an Idea

[KER828]

I'm planning on making the Pineapple rug in 2009 but I want to use it as a wall hanging. I've used jute or natural fiber rugs as wall hangings before and nailed them up with a million pins to keep them from stretching out. Do you think if I used a cotton yarn and then stiffened this before hanging it would work?? Is there something I could use with the cotton yarn that would "stabilize" it for lack of a better term? Needing to think this through from all angles before I purchase the supplies and get started! Thanks in advance for your input!

[forestergirl]

Even stiffened, I think the rug would tend to stretch. I would also be concerned about shrinkage (horizontally) in the summer because of humidity, though you may not have that issue. I would recommend 1 of 2 things. 1) Run the finished rug through a hot washer and dryer a few times to shrink it fully, and then attach it to a sturdy backing fabric that won’t stretch. Depending on the weight of the finished piece, I would probably sew through at least every other crocheted stitch. 2) Paint the finished rug with varnish or something similar to seal it in a hardened “case” that would keep out the humidity to prevent shrinkage as well as be rigid enough to keep it from stretching. It may take a lot of varnish though since the cotton would soak up a lot of it. (You would likely loose at least some stitch definition this way.)

I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to deal with cotton in this context – those are just the ones off the top of my head.

[HomekeepingGran]

How large will this be when you finish?

 

I'm thinking it will stretch some although cotton won't be as bad as other fibers might. You might consider crocheting as tightly as possible to begin with though. Will the finished product be something you could mount against a frame, like stretching cloth in a giant embroidery hoop? Or sew tightly against a frame and mount the whole thing?

 

I also am just tossing things out. Since I'm not sure exactly what you are making I may be way out of line with ideas.

[JoBug]

I am a dodo brain but how about using the nylon they have now? It seems stiff??????????