Hi Elena, I have had the chance to work with different starching materials on cotton and linen. I have only ever pressed silk (over a damp cloth). For starching I strongly recommend using all stainless steel pins to prevent rusting and always use some sort of a cover for your pricking (blue contact sheet or even 3" clear packaging tape) this prevents the ink from coming off the pricking and into the lace and it also protects your pillow. When you are finished with your piece, take out the non essential pins (example in a plain torchon ground you would take out the center pins and only leave the outside ones), then push all the pins down so you have easy access to the threads. Use a clean painting brush (very small square ones tend to work the best) to "paint" the starch onto the lace and let dry out. I like to use the standard fabric starches like Easy ON or Stayflo. It might be a good idea to test different strengths (dilution ratios) on a sample made with your desired threads to get just the right crispness.
Good luck with the project it sounds exciting. Can't wait to see it on Instagram ;-) -- Dagmar Beckel Machyckova Fiber Artist and Professional Lacemaker 715.944.9608 To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
