Thursday, 28 April 2011

Lace doilies just got cool

Sitting in a waiting room yesterday, flicking through a magazine I spotted a 'how to' make gorgeous lace bowls from old doilies.

For a change I was seen super-quick so I didn't have time to take in all the details, so re-creating it at home was a bit of a challenge. I think I did ok though.


You need:

  • Fabric doily (lace or crochet)
  • Fabric dye (optional)
  • PVA glue
  • Clingfilm

I headed straight off to the charity shops, and came away gleeful at finding these for 25p each.




If you have delicate lace ones, then I think they'd look best left white, but as I had thicker crocheted ones, and they were a bit dingy I decided to dye mine a funky colour.  I used Dylon's Burlesque Red machine dye which was super-easy.




Leave to dry. Lovin' the colour!



Once dyed and dried, mix up a solution of 50/50 water and PVA in a bowl.  Submerge your doily in the mixture and leave for around 10 minutes to soak fully into the fabric.



Meanwhile, cover the outside of a suitably sized bowl with cling film.  Smooth out the creases - for finer fabric this will be more important.




Squeeze out your doily to remove the excess gloop.




Place centrally over your upturned, covered bowl and smooth into shape.  You can pinch a fluted shape to the edges.




Leave overnight to dry.

I love these - I have delicate looking decorative bowls which (so far) appear to be toddler-proof!  The do look much nicer than my photographs suggest - both the shape and the colour are extremely difficult to capture accurately.




Oooh, get me - I've done some 'upcycling'.

Head on over to White Lily Green's blog to check out the other Handmade Thursday entries.
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14 comments:

  1. Emma@christmascupboard28 April, 2011 10:15

    They are Great! I love them...Thanks for sharing x

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  2. Lilysperfumery28 April, 2011 10:35

    Just love the colour..they are great well done x

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  3. gidders128 April, 2011 10:39

    Sooo cute :0)

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  4. @goriami28 April, 2011 11:01

    Those are fab! I will definetly be hunting out some doilies! Love the way you dyed them too - makes them look very exclusive! ;)

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  5. MichelleTwinMum28 April, 2011 11:11

    Go you! How fab. Mich x

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  6. Jane28 April, 2011 11:40

    Theyre lovely and what a grt way to recycle old doilies :)

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  7. Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping]28 April, 2011 12:24

    Oh they look great - they'd probably go down a storm at craft fairs.

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  8. RedTedArt28 April, 2011 13:43

    Oooh FABTASTIC!

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  9. WhiteLily28 April, 2011 17:35

    Wow I looooove these!! What a clever idea!

    Thanks for linking up x

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  10. Anonymous02 May, 2011 03:27

    Very clever! Lovely little bowls! Very inventive, might have a go at one of these on an afternoon.

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  11. Anonymous03 May, 2011 12:14

    Your bowls look lovely. I used to do this years ago only I used sugar and water rather than PVA glue. I made a few lamp shades in the same way, but had to crochet them myself in order to get a big enough hole in the middle.

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  12. KatGotTheCream05 May, 2011 22:21

    These are ace! I really want to try them!! They remind me a little bit of that thing Kirsty did where she made bowls out of melted vinyl records (if you watched that episode of her show) but these are way prettier and more 'crafty'.

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  13. Anthea16 July, 2011 11:39

    I adore this idea! I have some lovely doilies my mum made to sell at my craft fairs but so far haven't - might suggest we 're-work' them :)

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  14. Diana11 August, 2011 23:14

    oh brilliant - I have so many hand crocheted ones that my Aunt and Grandmother made..and they are laying in a drawer under the bed..now I know what I can do with them...Thank you!

    Diana

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