This weekend found me boiling my embroidery. Yes, that’s right. Boiling it.
Upon rinsing out the marking pen from a finished embroidery piece, I discovered that some of the red floss had bled onto the fabric. Horrors! (I’ve used this floss before and never had this sort of trouble.)
After doing some research on the Internets, I decided to try the following:
Fill a pot (large enough to hold your embroidery) with water and bring it to a boil. Throw in a couple of teaspoons of cream of tartar and let it dissolve. Turn off the heat and place your embroidery into the water, stirring it around gently a couple of times. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the water. And …
… it worked!
I don’t remember where I found this suggestion or I’d link to it. It was originally suggested for red floss that had bled onto linen, but it worked wonders for my muslin as well. The stain lifted almost immediately, and the piece was saved. Oh, thank you, Internets!
As you can see, it’s a smaller version of my embroidered doll’s house, intended for the shop. Now it’s on to finishing and writing a listing and pricing it…. Oh, and enjoying this nice little patch of sunlight on this wonderfully warm day.
Meanwhile, I’m still in pin mode—making some pins for the shop, testing prints of the pin photos. To those of you who requested them (and even those who did not, if you feel so inclined), which prints are your favorites? Do you think you’d prefer postcards, greeting cards, or larger prints, such as a 5×7″ or 6×8″? Ah, the decisions!
Hi Gretchen!
written on March 8th, 2010, at 1:47 pmI just HAD to comment on this post! I think it would be cool to do postcards of your pin photos — a set of all of them would be totally cool, and I know I would definitely put them to good use!
I am always looking at your website, and I check it daily for updates. Christie said you would love to hear that, so here I am telling you!
Hope you are well. You are so talented and I hope we can see you soon!
Love,
Emily
Thanks for the tip!! Love the dollhouse!!!
written on March 8th, 2010, at 2:25 pmI shall have to file that tip away for future use, thank you for sharing.
written on March 8th, 2010, at 2:29 pmI love your embroidered piece, it looks wonderful!
Holy cow! So glad it worked! Great tip, phew…
written on March 8th, 2010, at 3:20 pmOh, funny you should mention this – I had some black embroidery thread which bled recently but it wasn’t my usual brand (Anchor) – lesson learned! What a relief you got it sorted – I would have been in tears! Looking forward to seeing your pins in the shop as I am ALWAYS losing pins – now if I had some pretty decorative ones . . . :)
written on March 8th, 2010, at 3:44 pmi’m so glad the piece was saved … after all that work and so beautiful. i love blackwork … and now redwork. it just stands out so beautifully.
written on March 8th, 2010, at 4:17 pmAll I can say is thanks goodness it worked!! One of my kids gave Bubble watermelon during a break in photos and I thought that was it for the garment. Luckily my mother taught me a few few things. Meanwhile *teehehe covers mouth and points* look at the teeny tiny bicycle awww. Can’t wait to see more pins!!!
xo Steph
written on March 8th, 2010, at 10:15 pmBeautiful embroidery gretchen,glad you saved it!
written on March 9th, 2010, at 2:14 amI would agree that sets of postcards would be perfect for your pin photos,though slightly larger options would be good too as they would look great in a nice simple white IKEA frame.
Ali
x
yay for the rescue! very lucky.
written on March 9th, 2010, at 3:27 ami like the idea of postcards + prints!
I’m bookmarking this post for when I do redwork. I love the dollhouse piece . . . one of these days I *will* make use of my pattern and stitch up a dollhouse for myself (or maybe my mom)!
I’m a notecard person, so that’d be my vote :).
written on March 9th, 2010, at 4:06 amoh wow – I am so glad it worked out!
written on March 9th, 2010, at 7:12 amAnd thanks for a great tip that I’m filing for future reference! =)
Clever you! Thanks for sharing your tip Gretchen. I am so pleased for you that it worked.
And your smaller house is just as beautiful as it’s big version.
written on March 9th, 2010, at 10:18 pmI am tucking away this recipe, glad it worked out. Love the Doll House.
written on March 10th, 2010, at 12:33 amCLOSE CALL OR WHAT?! Thank goodness for the www. It’s a blindingly beautiful redpiece to boot.
written on March 11th, 2010, at 7:26 amHow scary plunging that beautiful work into boiling water!
written on March 11th, 2010, at 8:07 amI love the doll-house. :)
written on March 11th, 2010, at 1:08 pmreally nice gretchen and fortunately you found that technique, it´s looks great!
written on March 11th, 2010, at 11:20 pmthanks once more for been as you are creative woman!I can see you get the taste of textil architecture !!an universe inside these house!