But it just might be possible to produce a glazed finish at will.
Well, only that in the dark days of food shortages my mother was relieved to find two sacks of rice in the back of her store cupboard. It made a lot of puddings (I doubt if she could buy the ingredients for curry) but it was originally intended for reglazing her chintz curtains. Now there's a thought..
Yes, indeed Rose C'est La Vie, now there is a thought.
A thought now heightened by the fact many of the fabric houses are discontinuing some of their best chintzes. While it is relatively easy to have fabric printed in small runs (20-50 meters) it is impossible to have it glaze finished. Unless of course one is prepared to order 250 meter runs, and foot the cost of screens and strikes. One day, but not just yet.
In the meanwhile Belgian rice starch, superior to other types, seemingly gives the highest quality finish on natural fibers.
The degree of sheen is entirely dependent on the concentration of starch and the pressing of the cloth.
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Now playing: Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, 20 March 2010
It very well may be jousting at windmills...
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10 comments:
This could be life altering.
I will always love Chintze
Fabric's. Sorry to hear that they will discontinue them. I'll be leaving this earth soon and am glad. Everything I love is being lost. I have seen what's coming and I am happy to go.
yvonne
How can chintz die like this? Insane. And nothing beats glazed chintz. And I do mean nothing.
1) how do you glaze the chintz? are there instructions?
2) love the corresponding song. love it.
How did I miss this?! Thrilled that you have run with the rice starch idea. Thank you. I am very tempted to order some.
PD - the starch is first cooked (thankfully there is a recipe) and then one starches the fabric as any other. The trick is in the dose of starch and the ironing. Once the weather is better am going to have a bash at producing some chintz for the house.
I will be looking forward to the chintz bash and feasting on the pics until my eyes glaze over!
If and when you attempt this, do please share the
results. I once had a slipcover made of Lee Jofa's handblocked chintz~the seamstress, to my chagrin, ironed it on the glazed side of the fabric. Result: glaze
disappeared.
It looked like a bed sheet. Though I suppose that Nancy Lancaster might have approved of the instant
fatigué look that resulted.
TW - Will do. I am looking forward to having a go.
This is exciting. At my previous job we ordered a huge amount of chintz from a well known purveyor based on a perfectly polished, paper thin sample. It arrived looking and feeling like bed sheets (unfortunately more anemic than fatigué, Toby). We sent it to two different fabric finishers to replicate the glaze, all in vain. Here I could've broken out the rice starch!
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