Sewology Sunday - Why we love Starch!
Happy Sunday everyone! The perfect day for sipping tea, watching snow fall, magazine perusing and of course... sewing! For today's Sewology Sunday we are going to discuss Starch: a sewing girl's best friend! There are many reasons we love Starch.
We use Faultess Heavy Spray starch. It is available at Walmart for about a $1.00. It is a good deal for us because we can go through a can or two on a quilt top!
Why we love to Starch our fabrics:
- Tames bias edges (good for those 60 degree triangles!)
- Creases from long term folds iron out like a dream!
- Starch makes fabrics equal (batiks and homespuns will behave the same)
- You have more control over fabrics when sewing. (edges ride nicely next to the flange on a 1/4" seam foot)
- Creases are much crisper
- Points are are sharper
- Fabric doesn't shift when rotary cutting
Some of our great quilting friends prefer to make their own starch! It is much more economical than buying the spray starch, just a little stickier!
How to make your own spray Starch:
- Mix 1/2 cup cold water and 1/4 cup Argo corn starch
- Add 4 cups of boiling water. Stir well.
- Let the mixture cool.
- Make sure to shake mixture before spraying on fabric!
We love and use starch all the time, but we realize not everyone does! It is something we strongly suggest for a few of our patterns (the ones with bias edges, like Diamond Alley and few coming soon, for example!) Thank you for stopping by for Sewology Sunday!
Comments
mary said:
Kristy,
I am going to mix some up and test it.
Will let you know the grade I give it.
Love your new site. Wish you tons success.
Would love get some patterns soon.
Love Mar
Debbie Block said:
I am worried about having a stiff quilt after all that starch (Diamond Alley), does is soften up as you work with it or after washing. It makes sense to starch the fabric but in the end I want a soft quilt.
Debbie Block
Karen Alexander said:
Starch is an age old means of stiffing fabric for a neat, wrinkle free iron… Probably no one here has ever ironed shirts sprinkled with a Coca Cola bottle filled with home made starch – YES, made with Argo. Only problem with corn starch, is that in warmer climates, it can attract bugs. Indian Meal moth larva, and other tiny critters will eat holes in garments to get at the starchy gooness _ the larva are the "wormy stage of the moth. Tiny moth capsules (minus the larva) and holes in the fabric are an immediate symptom. Usually the Larva work at the fabric over the summer months… have you ever had your silk or woolens come out of storage with timy hole in them? So, in Southern or mild climates, I would NEVER store or leave starch in a quilt over a longer period of time than necessary – for example months. Fine to use in piecing – if you will finish the work in a few months. But put the pieces on the shelf, and you may be asking for trouble! I do make my own, as there’s no need to breath the propellant chemical in the spray starch… we get enough chemical exposure in life… Argo is inexpensive and easy to use in a grocery store spray bottle. I don’t make mine with quite as heavy a mixture as your recipe. About half the amount of starch will result in enough stiffness for me. Of course the beauty of it is that all starches just wash out! I tried Best Press once, but am really NOT thrilled to see a product that does not disclose it’s ingredients on the label! If a bug won’t eat it – then it may not be good for me to be exposed to! I don’t want to see babies sleeping in it! Thanks for your great little review on a truly vintage product that really can make your quilting more accurate and make unruly, slippery fabrics behave! – Karen