The pressing sucked because of all the issues that I have with the placemats. The sets are all the same size within the pairs but there was shrinking issues with all the placemats. The areas of huck lace shrunk in width and length more than the areas of plain weave. So the placemats all have wrinkles in them that all the steam pressing in the world can’t get out.
The size of the placemats after washing and pressing are 17” x 14” which are a very good size for placemats, if anything they are a little too big. 
The pattern on the above placemat is really pretty. I like the strong diagonals across the placemat yet when looking closer circles are the dominant structure. 
With the second set of placemats the centre panel is all over huck lace and had the greatest amount of shrinkage. 
The third set of placemats has more of a lattice appearance. And is a little boring when compared to the other sets. 
I wove these placemats for sale and I’m unable to sell them because of the wrinkles. Even if I was able to get the wrinkles out by pressing, once the placemats were washed the wrinkles would be back and that is not acceptable. So now I have to come up with an idea to use the placemats in a creative way. I don’t really want to add more material costs or time with these placemats as they are not a high cost item so if I can’t come up with something in the next couple weeks I will be throwing them out. And that is really hard to say but it is necessary in a business sense. 
I'm still searching for a reliable placemat pattern, so far every one that Mom and I have tried have had issues....any ideas?
8 comments:
I feel that the wrinkling is due to the differences between the lace areas and the plain weave.There are more interlacements in the PW borders than in the lace centres. How to resolve this I'm not sure but I do know that in the GCW test questions we had to weave the lace to square so perhaps it needs a harder beat?
As for throwing them away: well the first thought that crossed my mind was they would make great pillow fronts where the puffy filling would fill out the material and the wrinkling would be lessened. Someone would buy those!
So no project is a waste of time as they help us to learn as we go! (yup, even the ones we cut off the loom!)
:) Susan
I have seen placemats in huck lace do really well before. The only thing I might mention is that generally it wasn't an all over design of the lace, but blocks of the lace interspersd with plain weave. That may help that annoying shrinkage problem.
You might be able to do pincushions or door stops or those cute fabric chickens or something with the fabric.
No no, don't throw them away. Make pillows and cut off the plain weave part. Or sew the huck squares together and add a lining to make a shawl. The fabric is too beautiful to throw away!
What about turning them into gift bags? A fancy ribbon or tie would brighten them up and be very little extra time or cost.
Hi there - I am sorry to hear about the wrinkling in your placemats ! I must have been lucky as I have just done the very same ones but luckily they have washed and pressed ok. I used doubled 2/6 cotton so they are quite thick.
It seems a shame to throw them out ! I like Susan's idea of making cushions with them, the stuffing would help to stretch out the wrinkles !
Dorothy
Another idea would be to fold them in half, stitch a lining just to the top, make a casing, throw in a drawstring, and voila - a cute little bag.
I agree - don't throw them away. If you don't want to do anything with them right now, at some point you might want to.
You might try a 2/2 broken twill in place of the plain weave, if you have enough shafts. The twill might take up at more the same rate as the huck, and you'd have less shrinkage differential. But I agree with the others - don't toss 'em! There will be a good way to rescue them, never fear.
I agree - rather than throw them out, make something out of them and save the project. Pillows would be great, and any stuffing done to them would make those wrinkles disappear.
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