In a message dated 24/02/2010 06:47:18 GMT Standard Time, alexstillw...@talktalk.net writes:"Personally I would not choose satin. I think the shine would bother me, but there is no reason why not,......"
I can think of a reason why not. The way satin is woven is by having long floats on the front face of the fabric, so the threads catch the light. Those floats won't be as hard wearing as a usual one under, one over weave. Although it might be ok to use when new, tiny filaments of thread could start to wear and break off more quickly and easily than on other weaves. The reason I was given to use cotton rather than poly cotton fabric for cloths was that the static from the poly cotton in some way weakens the thread. I am not at all convinced by that as I don't have problems with threads breaking, and have mostly used poly cotton because as Alex said, dark plain cotton fabric is very hard to find. But it is possible that the same static could attract more dust, fibres and hairs to the cloth What is more important I think is that the fabric is thin, the cloths are big enough to go right to the edges of the pillow and that there are no bulky hems - just tear the fabric into squares, pull off loose threads and washing machine it a couple of times. It rarely frays after that. After folding under a couple of inches and creasing it well, pin it drum tight across the pillow so that bobbins can slide over the edge without catching and so there is no bulky edge rubbing on the threads. Keep a couple of flat-headed heavy, steel pins on your pillow to do this with; brass lace pins aren't strong enough. Pin low down on one edge, with the point of the pin angled up, stretch the cloth really tightly across the pillow, and pin low down on the other side, again angling the pin. The pins should be quite hard to remove if the cloth is tight enough :-) If the cloth is too bulky, or not pinned tightly (or even at all!), not only will it stress the thread, it will also easily transfer tiny dark filaments to your lace as the threads are rubbed back and forth across the sticky-up edge. Also don't forget to wash them after every piece of lace, not only to remove hand oils but to wash off dust and other detritus. One of the pleasures to me of starting a new piece of lace is dressing the pillow with a clean, crisply ironed cover cloth. Like getting into bed on clean sheets day. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
