Things to do with potato starch

[attack_laurel]

So.  I have this standing collar, it's featured on my web site.  I took it out a month or so ago, and decided the lace around the edge looked horrifically plastic and modern, and switched it out for some vintage lace I have.  Then I got a mad idea and dug out some reproduction lace I got years ago for Bob, and actually went ahead and made him a

Comments

[sstormwatch]

Thank you for sharing this step by step with potato starch. I've only used blue bottle store stuff for my big ruff, which worked ok, but I need to play around more with starch and ruffs.

And take my advice, hard earned - do NOT put your ruff in the ovens in the USA. Most modern ovens do not turn on unless you close the door which is a safety feature. I did this with my first hand sewn large ruff in 2009, and then shut the door to turn the heat on since it wouldn't warm up otherwise. It burned portions of it to a burnt crisp before I could stop it, and a friend was in the room and couldn't smell the burning until I returned to find it that way - I was gone only a few minutes.

I've since told Ms. Tiramini about that problem, through a friend of mine who is really really into researching and making ruffs, and who taught me how to make them.

[lorihalia]

Is your oven electric? I think that may be the major difference, as mine is gas and does not have said safety feature.

[sstormwatch]

Yes, it is electric, and is newer with the safety features. I've spoken with others who have older electrics and they also don't have that feature.

A safer option if one wants to "bake" a ruff instead of cooking up the starch first, is to heat it in a dryer. That is what a few friends have done successfully. I've not done so as I'd prefer to just not put ruffs into things if a cooked starch works as well. I guess I'm still gun-shy about losing a whole ruff.

[trystbat]

Hmmm... but heat is supposedly how they set ruffs (standing & of course curled) in the 16th & 17th centuries. Otherwise, it's very difficult to get the starch to dry in all the gathers/pleats.

Back in 2008, I did indeed bake a ruff -- linen, using modern liquid Stay-Flo starch, baked at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. I hung it from the racks by means of large metal safety pins, making sure that no fabric touched any part of the oven. The only reason I stopped was that I'd edged the ruff in gold lace that apparently had some plastic in it. That started to melt ever so slightly & stink up the kitchen, so I turned off the oven asap. Minimal harm done tho -- the metallic lace uncurled when I ironed & set the ruff w/a not-as-hot curling iron. This is detailed & photographed on my website at www.trystancraft.com/costume but unfortunately I'm having technical difficulties right now :( That said, this ruff is still super-stiff & has held the sets nicely.

More recently, my good friend, Baroness Elena Edgar (lifeofglamour) has done many experiments

[dagonell]

This is wonderful! I'm the local chronicler, can I publish this in our next issue? -- Dagonell

[trystbat]

Elena's work would be better to publish, as she's done more with period sources. Please do message her thru LJ & tell her I sent you. She's been writing about this on her journal & teaching classes in the West Kingdom.

(My baking episode will be back online in about a day, so tech support promises; feel free to check that out if it's of any use.)

[attack_laurel]

I'm extremely happy with my how my starch turned out, thanks. It's stiff as a board, and works very well.

I can't bake my standing collar in an oven because it won't fit, and what I get from the stuff I've looked at is that it goes through a stage of heating, then a stage of heat setting, not necessarily in an oven, but by a fire.

I get that potato starch isn't period, but being gluten-free, it's what I have in my house. Wheat and barley are not hanging around casually in my area. :)

I'm also not looking to give people the nth degree of period; as you can see from the comment above, some people have problems with that, and alternatives for people without the means to bake their ruffs can be nice.