This is a question I get from time to time, but in recent weeks, I've gotten it quite a few times. “How do you prepare your fabric, and do you use starch or not?"
I shot this simple little video showing and talking through my process as I prepare to cut into my fabric. I also discuss at what point in the process I starch my piecing (and what product I use). There are many kinds of starch out there, and I'm not a stickler about what to use. Did you know you can make your own starch and there are about a million ways to do it?!
Below you will find several different recipes for homemade starch. We added these to printable recipe cards, so you can print them off to keep!
Cornstarch is the one that comes up most frequently when looking for recipes for homemade spray starches.
This one is interesting. But unless you're really ambitious, you might want to stick with mashing your potatoes.
This is probably one of the earliest recipes for spray starch since flour was also used to make paste.
This recipe is very similar to the cornstarch basic starch, but adding vinegar to the mix cuts down on the possibility of mold.
School’s almost out! What are you going to do with all that extra school glue? Make spray starch of course.
Here's a recipe for spray starch using inexpensive vodka which is supposed to produce a light crisp finish. Apparently, the potatoes used to make vodka make an effective starch.
Here’s one using white rice if you already drank the vodka and used the vinegar to make pickles :-)
Use and Storage of Homemade Spray Starch
Use as you would any store-bought starch. Follow the recommendations on your iron for heating. Clean your iron regularly. Starch can build up after a while. Store in a cool, dry place for a few months or in your refrigerator. Discard if you notice any discoloration."
Have you ever made spray starch? What did you use? How did it work out for you? Do you have a recipe that’s not included here?
Who knew there were so many ways to make spray starch? Now you know!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Krista
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