Cross Stitch Patterns by designer Pamela Kellogg of Kitty And Me Designs

The Blog Of Cross Stitch Designer Pamela Kellogg
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Sunday, April 25, 2010

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

Happy Sunday everyone!  I've been busy, busy, busy!  Yes, too busy and I'm winding down now but I am the way I am!  My ADD motor is always going!

I made a big pot of soup, 2 batches of cookies and a loaf of wheat bread.  I have all the laundry caught up and added 2 more of my mom's Victorian Tussy Mussy's for Mother's Day to our Etsy shop:

Mothers Day Tussy Mussy with Kittens

Mothers Day Tussy Mussy with a Robin

Aren't they pretty?  Mom really has a knack for these!

Another thing I did today was to block a couple of crocheted doilies and I thought I would write a tutorial for anyone who doesn't know how to do this.  Many crocheted pieces can be ironed into shape but there are some that just won't cooperate unless they are blocked.

This one for example is quite large.  My mom made it for me years ago.  I had it out for quite some time but decided to wash it and put it away for awhile.  I have never had any luck with ironing this piece into shape:

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

I pulled it out today because I knew it would fit my new little vintage table which I'll show you at the end of this post.

HOW TO BLOCK A CROCHETED DOILY

You will need a cardboard cutting board, a big box of pins and a misting bottle of water.  I scent mine with lavender.

Step one is to lay out your crocheted piece on the cutting board.
Step two is to start pinning it to the board:

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

I just started with the center of each scallop around the outside.  One pin in the center of each scallop.  After going all the way around, you may have to make some adjustments for shaping purposes.  It's a matter of eyeballing it.

The next step is to add more pins around the scallops.  This rounds them out:

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

Add as many pins around the outside as you have to in order to shape it properly.  It seems like it might be a lot of work but it actually only takes a few minutes. 

Once you have all the pins in place and the doily is shaped appropriately, mist the entire piece with water and let air dry.  It takes about an hour for large doily and about 1/2 an hour for a small one.

Here's another type of doily that needs to be shaped this way:

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

Those little flowers are terribly difficult to iron.

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

Just pin the flowers open, spritz with water, let dry and then remove the pins and enjoy the beauty!

Be sure to click on the photos to see the large versions.  That'll give you a good idea of what to do.

Also, if you have small children, dogs or cats, you may want to do this in a room where you can close the door while it's drying.  They may be a little too fascinated with the pins.

Here's my large doily on my new vintage table:

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

My husband bought me this beautiful vintage sewing table at a flea market back in February.  It was only $15.00!  He repaired it, stripped it and refinished it for me and added new knobs.  The sides open up!  It's really too cool!  And it's not as dark as it looks in this photo.

Anyway, that was my day!  Now, it's time to relax with a cup of tea and some stitching:

Tea Cup

Have a good night!

6 comments:

kerrykatiecakes2 said...

Hi! I just love your little sewing table - so sweet! And you are right - that doily is perfect there!
Hugs,
Kerry

kerrykatiecakes2 said...

Hi! I just love your little sewing table - so sweet! And you are right - that doily is perfect there!
Hugs,
Kerry

Cathy said...

Thanks for the blocking tutorial. I just always spray and iron the bejeebers out of something, but this seems like a "kinder, gentler" way to do it. I LOVE that table and wish I could find a treasure like that when I'm out sale-ing. Have a wonderful evening. Hugs, Cathy

debi said...

Thanks for the tutorial...I have a few doilies that I can use that on!

Your mom's tussies are beautiful...she really is good at making those.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

You might want to remove the comment above mine - I *think* it's spam??

Ummm...I DO hope you took the pretty posy out of your tea cup before you put tea in it?

Joanie R. said...

Wow, what a difference it makes with the blocking. I think I may have to resurect (spelling?) a few of the doilies I have made over the years. Didn't know I could block cotton!!!

Thanks Pam.

Joanie Robertson

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