Tutorial how to starch a doily to a bowl
Tutorial on how to stiffen Crochet with Starch
Starching a Doily and make a Bowl
I crocheted a doily and wanted to shape a pretty bowl out of it. To achieve that I starched the doily with potato starch. Below you see a photo tutorial, that shows you every step in the process.
First you need the ingredients for the stiffening.
Recipe
½ cup boiling water
½ cup starch – I used potato starch
½ cup cold water
Put the starch into the cold water. Bring the other ½ cup water to boiling temperature and pour the starch/water mixture into the hot water. Continue boiling the water while stirring constantly. When the starch starts to thicken take it off the heat.
When the starch has cooled and you can safely handle the starch with your hands put the doily into the bowl and rub the starch gently into it.
Take a bowl which bottom has the desired shape of the finished crochet bowl. Put transparent food plastic wrap around the bottom of it.
Place the doily onto a towel and press the towel against it so excess starch gets removed. There should be no starch left in the spaces.
Place the soaked doily on top of the bowl and remove any extra starch that sits in the corners of the doily. The doily feels very glibbery and sticky now.
Wait for 2-4 days until the doily is completely dry. Then remove the doily carefully from the plastic and you have a pretty bowl.
The shown doily is the Azalea Bowl by Linda Permann from Interweave Crochet, Summer 2011.
I LOVE THIS! thanks so much for sharing, and I’m definitely going to try it out!
-laura
Hi Laura,
It is a bit messy, but it is all worth it:-)
Does the doily have to be crocheted with cotton thread…? Or can any fiber be starched with this method? Thanks so much!
Hi Linda,
So far I have only starched with cotton. Since I want a stiff fabric I start out with something that is stiff as well.
Other fabrics like bamboo or silk might work as well.
very informative post! i’m definitely going to use this technique
Glad you liked it:-) The whole process is a little bit sticky, but really easy to make.