Thread: Sewing on the Bias ?

I am planning on making a quilt with the Kite Plus Ruler. All cuts will be on the bias. The video says to starch the fabric really well to help with the stretching. My question to all of you is, has anyone ever used a very lite weight iron on interfacing instead of heavy starch. If so, does it tend to stiffen the quite once it is complete. I don't want the quilt to be too stiff. Hopefully my question makes sense.

Thanks in advance
Peggy

Even very light weight interfacing/fusible web will still make the quilt stiffer but washing will help. If you're making a wall quilt, that's no problem. If you're making a bed quilt, I probably would go with the heavy starch instead -- or tear away stabilizer.

I would probably opt not to use lightweight interfacing just because starch is easier and has fewer problems. (I have seen interfacings shrink and bubble on occasion.)

For me, the easiest way to heavily starch yardage is to mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" this solution onto the yardage until the fabric is saturated, wait a couple of minutes to make sure the fibers have had time to absorb the starch, toss in the dryer, then iron with steam. My kitchen island provides a great area for doing this. To "paint" the starch solution on the fabric I use a large wall painting brush (costs about $3 at Walmart).

I would *never* use spray starch on yardage. Did this in the past, and it was very slow and time-consuming. It also does not provide the fabric with as much stability as the Sta-Flo method.

Thank you ladies. I guess I knew all of this but wanted some backup reassurance. Prism99, thanks for the tip on painting the starch on. Never thought of that before, it certainly would be faster. I usually use a spray bottle with the Sta-flo mixture. Never thought to put it in the dryer either. Great tips.

I don't use starch very often. I understand that it is great for bias edges but I would probably do as PaperPrincess suggested. Make 3 test blocks with each method. If you did use 1 of the featherweight interfacing you could then use a thinner, lightweight batting. Having lived in MI for 40 yrs, the little extra weight may not matter.

Originally Posted by maviskw

Why can't we put the fabric into the starch, like we did back in the old day. I would put enough water in a bucket so that the fabric could absorb most of it. Add starch to the desired strength, then put the fabric, unfolded, into the bucket. Work it around until it absorbs all it can. Be sure all of it is wet. Then dry on the line or in a dryer and iron it. This way you would be sure that ALL the fabric has starch. If I painted it on, I'm sure I would miss some.

I tried something similar with Sta-Flo at first, but quickly realized it would use up too much Sta-Flo at a 1:1 dilution. I haven't done it in awhile, but it seems to me I can heavily starch several yards of fabric with just one cup of Sta-Flo and one cup of water with the painting method. I am very heavy handed with the starch solution, which seems to change the fabric color sufficiently so that it is easy to see which areas have been covered, plus I fold the fabric on itself and let it sit for a few minutes so any spots I might have missed have a chance to absorb the solution from the sopping wet parts. You could dilute the Sta-Flo more than I do, but I figure if I'm going to go to the trouble of starching at all, I might as well get the fabric as stiff (and stable) as possible. No one would want to wear clothing starched the way I do it! I have tried other dilutions. Tried full-strength Sta-Flo once, but it seemed to be difficult for the fabric fibers to absorb it without any water mixed in. 2:1 water and Sta-Flo might be enough, but 4:1 doesn't seem as if it would provide enough stabilization for the trouble (although that would undoubtedly be a better dilution for clothing!).

I am wondering what kind of starch you used years ago too. I would think powdered starch would be considerably less expensive than Sta-Flo, although I can't complain about the cost of Sta-Flo considering it lasts a long time for my uses.