I got this old lace tablecloth from the North Country Neighbors Flea Market for $5.00 b/c it has a small stain on it. It was not worth throwing out this huge tablecloth for a small little stain. So I wanted to try making a basket out of it.
I found somewhere on the internet that a good replacement for fabric starch/stiffener was 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water. That is a big FAIL it did not stiffen the fabric at all. So I went to the old standby of mostly glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue, but I'm going to try Elmer's next time its cheaper) with a little bit of water and mixed it until it was well combined. I dunked my round piece of the tablecloth into the glue mixture and stirred it around a little and then layed it over and upside down bowl to give it shape. Make sure you place wax paper or parchment paper underneath b/c it will drip a little bit. As it dries you may want to adjust it so that it ends up in the proper shape. It took overnight and the next day to dry but I think it turned out lovely.
It is now on the coffee table in our living room and I have but the hearts I crochet in it. I will be trying other projects with whats left of the tablecloth!
My mother in-law was showing me some of her mother's and grandmother's lace over the weekend. Some of it is so fragile it's starting to fall apart. This looks like a great method to salvage what's left so that it can be functional as well. Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI hope this works out for you! I will be posting other uses next week too! Thanks for the comment!
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