Jessica Cooper Have you ever worked so hard on a handmade item, finish it, then realize the edges are curling?? This can be so frustrating! I have gifted many crochet baby blankets over the years that had the corners curling up. But now I realized that it can be fixed with one simple solution and doesn’t require washing the item! ….just steam block it!
I prefer not to wash any items I make as gifts. You never know when someone is allergic to a certain fabric softener or detergent. Steam blocking allows the stitches to relax, just like they would with washing! This fixes any curled edges or corners and helps with draping on handmade clothing items.
I have been working on a new pattern that will be a sweater. It has slits on the sides to be a little longer in the back. Well, the corner of those slits were curling pretty bad. I didn’t want to wash the item, so I steam blocked it. And it worked perfect!
By steam blocking I mean, using your steamer to go over the item. And that’s it! I bought this steamer back in 2007 at Walmart! It’s a Conair and I probably didn’t pay much for it. And, it still works!
So what I did was put water in my steamer and turn it on. This particular steamer has to be used in an upright position, so the garment had to be hung up. Some steamers can be used laying flat. Or, I have seen where some use the steam setting on their iron, but not touch the iron to the fabric.
Once my steamer was ready (had steam coming out of it), I went over the garment with it pulling a little on the item to relax it. I paid extra close attention to the edges and corners to relax any curling. It worked magically!
Allow the garment to dry completely….and that’s it! I was amazed at how much more relaxed the garment was! It fit kind of awkward prior to steam blocking. After steam blocking it draped nicely!
You can also steam block other items…like a rug. I once made a rug and had to wet block it to get it to lay right. Well that too several processes to get it right. If I would have realized that I could have just used my steamer…I would have done that! You would obviously need a horizontal steamer like this one that I found on Amazon.
So try it out and let me know what you think!!
Looking for a pattern to try this one? Check out my Cameo Cardigans that come in Baby Size, Toddler Size, Preschool Size, Small Child, large child, Adult XS/S, Adult Med/Lg, Adult XL/2XL!!!
And soon to come is the sweater from the photos above!
Check out these Before and After Photos from a pattern that I’m working on!!! I was not happy with how the pattern turned out, but I decided to steam block it. And boy did it make a HUGE difference. It relaxed it and gave it the drape I needed.
Before
After
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