I've never done any three dimensional tatting before, so this will be an experiment for me. It will give me the chance to see how well (or poorly) tatting holds its shape on its own. I'm sure I will need some kind of stiffener for the finished box. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to stiffen tatting?
14 comments:
Good idea ! Corina had done a comparative study of various stiffening agents - I have the exact link in my "Tatting Resources" page, under 'miscellaneous'. That might help.
Awesome squares!!! :)
Can't wait to see your box!! :)
There are several ways, Elmer's glue and water and then sugar water, and then fray check without heat. Of course there is the stuff called Super Stiffy too. make sure not to add heat to any and let dry and by the way this pattern is extremely beautiful as usual too always perfection from you :)
The joined squares look fabulous! A box is a good idea. I used watered down glue to stiffen tatting. Dries clear and does the job.
Piękne kwadraty. Jestem ciekawa końcowego efektu.
Sounds a good idea and lovely pattern to try with, look forward to seeing the result
Such elegant squares, the denser the tatting the better for holding without too much stiffening. but certainly worth a try.
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I have plenty of tatting scraps so I'll use those to test out some different stiffeners. I was also thinking of trying diluted Mod Podge to see how that works.
I use Linit starch for tatting pieces that need a heavy stiffness to it such as Christmas ornaments. It comes in a large jug in the laundry aisle. You can pour it in a deep dish and dunk the piece in it to saturate. For pieces that just need body but not stiffness I use Best Press. It comes in a spray bottle at Joann Fabrics. It leaves the piece with body and a very nice feel to the thread.
What a lovely idea! We've recently seen a nice round box from Nancy Tracy. and Jane Eborall has some cubical boxes, but I haven't seen a flattish square box like this. Will you make another piece to fit over as a lid, or will it be hinged?
My only foray into stiffening was with clear nail polish. It did the job, but then it cracked easily, so I don't really recommend it.
If possible, I'd like to have a removable lid (not hinged). It will be challenging to design that part, so I'm not sure if I will be successful. I'm also wondering if a removable lid would work on such a short box, or if I'd need to reserve it for something cube shaped.
Often for flat boxes, the lid comes all the way down the side. So maybe you could do the lid to the same pattern as the box below, only with a slightly larger thread. I have to admit, though, that I myself wouldn't feel quite satisfied with such a solution... ;-)
I stiffen with a cornstarch solution (boil about 3 tbsp cornstarch in about a cup of water until it goes from milky to translucent, then saturate your tatting, blot the excess, and block out. However, I'm not sure if it would work with darker tatting, and dry cornstarch is slightly white - it would be good to test first. I routinely block snowflakes on a board covered in plastic wrap, so that part should work fine. :)
Thanks for the info Sarah! I'm going to try out a few different methods to see which one I like best. Now I just need to get to the store to actually buy the stuff that I need :-P
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