Samplrgal asked me what the secret was to dealing with dupioni silk fraying. She is no-reply so I need to tell her that I learned that if I Fray Check the edges it is so much easier to work with. When Merry first told us to Fray Check the edges, I was skeptical. I thought it would take a long time, be messy and then we would have to wait for it to dry. But I was so happy with how it was to work with. I was convinced this was a great idea. We had to make very small hems on Ophelia's dress and I could do it easily with a Fray Checked edge.
But it is even easier to Fray Check edges if you put your Fray Check into a cleaned-out finger nail polish bottle where the lid has a brush. Then you can better control where the Fray Check goes. I went to Sally's Beauty supply to see if they had empty bottles I could buy.
They didn't but I got a couple of small nail polish bottles that I can empty and clean out and then fill with Fray Check. We used to put glue into old nail polish bottles at school. It was much less messy for little hands (age 3 to 6) to put glue on things.
I started The Owl and the Pussycat. It was a little intimidating but I did it. It doesn't look like much. The layers of colored organza will be the water around the boat. Don't worry, it will look good when it is all done.
I got some things done on the back cover of Catherine Theron's Americana needlebook.
Maybe I can finish it today. Maybe.
I need to work on the Spring Fling project. I have to just power through. I'm changing some floss colors as the floss is so muted and I need something brighter and more varied. So I just used my favorite Gloriana colors of Cottage Woods and Winter Brook. We'll see how it all turns out.
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Thank you Amy. I thought that Fray Check was the trick, but wanted to double check. Nancy P also says it helps to iron the Fray Checked area while wet as it helps to avoid some of the stiffness you get when it dries. I have found that does help.
ReplyDeleteBe careful with the fray check. I had it ruin a sampler by discoloring the linen. Clear nail polish also works and so far has never discolored anything - at least not over the last 10 years or better.
ReplyDeleteJackie
http://needleworkerssamplings.blogspot.com/
The Americana needlebook looks pretty.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
I found that Frey stop works better than Frey check. It does not seem to discolor
ReplyDelete