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Nearly every quilter and sewist I

know has a few doilies (or—let’s be

honest—a huge stash of them) buried

in a drawer in her sewing room. There’s

something about them—you just

can’t throw them away. Given away,

maybe, but never trashed. Maybe they

were tatted or crocheted by Grandma

or Great-Grandma. Maybe they were

painstakingly created by an anonymous

woman. And perhaps that’s why we

can’t throw them in the trash; they

were made with patient, careful, skilled

hands. They were made to add beauty

to a dressing table, or to grace the back

of a chair and prevent stains to the

upholstery, or to make a special candy

dish look more elegant.

But sadly, their popularity and

usefulness seem to have passed. Today,

most people consider them outdated,

old fashioned, and unnecessary, and

there’s something almost painful about

that realization. If you search Pinterest,

you’ll find a few crafters who have

found things to do with them. But with

doilies, walking the fine line between

kitsch and craft can be tricky.

I’ve discovered that it can be

challenging to try to find ways to work

them into quilts or fiber art. A unified

color scheme can help, as can using a

variety of styles and sizes in the same

piece. Here’s how to start.

Finding doiliesPerhaps you crochet or tatt and can

make your own. If not, you can often

find old doilies and lace at antiques

shops, sometimes for as little as 50

cents or a few dollars per doily. Or ask

a fellow quilter, sewist, or crafter if they

have some that need a good home. I’ve

found that some quilters, especially of

an older generation, are happy to give

me pieces if they know I’m going to do

something with them that will preserve

them in a way they will be viewed and

appreciated.

Look for single doilies, sets of lace

coasters, and crocheted tablecloths or

bedspreads. Sometimes you can cut

usable parts out of cheaper pieces that

Recycle Old Doilies and Lace Into Artby Susan Brubaker Knapp

Sponsored by Bernina of America and eQuilter.com

Materials• Old lace and doilies

• PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric

(for printing with doilies)

• Fabric, solid or pieced (for the

background)

• Batting

• Backing

• Rit® All-Purpose Dye

• Boiling water

• Salt

• Latex or rubber gloves

• Old, clean towels (they may become

dyed during this process)

• Gallon container

• Seam sealant (I used Dritz® Fray

Check™.)

Host Susan Brubaker Knapp

CAUTION: Rit dyes’ manufacturer says their dyes

are 100% non-toxic but not all dyes are. Check the manufacturer’s notifications if you are using another brand and follow their safety precautions. Even with non-toxic dyes, all supplies must be dedicated to non-food use.

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are damaged. Raw edges can be tucked

under and sewn down, or minimized

by using a seam sealant. Use damaged

or stained pieces by placing them so

that they go off the edge of the quilt.

Damaged edges can be strategically

placed under other doilies. Place

buttons or other embellishments to

camouflage stains. Brown spots are

minimized if you coffee- or tea dye.

Some crocheted doilies are made with

flat centers but have ruffles toward the

outside. I think they were made to place

on pedestals, so that they ruffled out

where they hung down. These pieces

add some dimension to an art quilt. You

can stitch them down in the center, and

leave the ruffled edge to flounce out.

Washing soiled piecesOften, old doilies and lace are soiled,

stained, or musty smelling, but odors

and stains often come clean with

washing.

Unless the lace is really old and fragile,

you can wash it in a mesh lingerie bag

in the washer (a stain-removing laundry

additive like OxiClean sometimes

helps). For old, delicate lace, hand wash

in a sink with a delicate detergent like

Woolite, blotting stains with a clean rag

to minimize or remove them. Place wet

doilies on a clean towel and roll up to

remove excess water. Then place them

on a work surface, block/reshape them,

and allow them to dry. Once dry, you

can press them flat with a steam iron.

dyeing doilies and laceMost old pieces are made of natural

fibers, usually cotton, and they dye

beautifully. I use liquid Rit All-Purpose

Dye to add color to my pieces; I often

use one color dye, but in different

strengths so that I have doilies of

different tints that help unify the piece.

instructions

Dye lace and doiliesNote: If you are dyeing doilies for a

quilt that will be washed, follow the

manufacturer’s directions carefully. The

following method is fast and easy, but not

guaranteed colorfast. It should be used for

art quilts only.

1. Fill a kettle with water and bring to

a boil. Place a container in a deep

sink (a utility sink is best but since

I don’t have one, I use my kitchen

sink).

2. Pour about a cup of boiling water in

the container.

3. Add a few tablespoons of table salt (I

don’t measure), and swish around to

dissolve it.

4. Add a swig of the liquid dye (again, I

don’t measure).

5. Put on latex or rubber gloves and

drop in the doilies.

6. When they reach the desired color,

pull them out and put them in the

sink. Wring out excess dye.

Tip: Be sure the doilies are cool to the

touch before wringing.

7. For mottled doilies, pour a little of

the dye right on the doilies in the

bottom of the sink. Wring out again.

8. Pour more boiling water onto the

doilies, and then run them under

cold water until the water rinses

clear.

9. Squeeze out the water and spread

them on an old, clean towel. Roll up

the towel with the doilies inside to

blot most of the water out of them.

10. Reshape and then place them on a

clean surface or towel to dry.

11. When they are dry (or mostly dry),

press using steam.

Print with doiliesIt’s fun to print onto fabric with doilies.

Thick crocheted doilies work best for

this process because they stay fairly flat

even when wet.

1. Pour some of the dye mixture above

(with salt and water added) into a

shallow pan.

figure 1Photos courtesy of the artist

figure 2

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2. Dip a doily into the dye, wring it out,

and place it on top of white PFD,

pressing down to make a print.

(figure 1)

3. Carefully pull off the doily to reveal

the print. (figure 2) When dry, press.

It’s easy to create printed yardage this

way. (figure 3)

Build a compositionYou can use a solid piece of fabric or

piece together interesting fabrics before

you start to build a composition with the

doilies and lace. I use a variety of fabrics,

including commercial cotton, hand-

dyed cotton and linen, and old pieces of

salvaged linen.

I was almost done with “Domestic Bliss”

when I realized that I had made some

cyanotype fabrics in the same shade

of blue that I thought would be an

interesting addition to the composition.

Consider adding other embellishments

like charms, buttons, or beads. (figure

4) Sometimes when you cut apart bigger

pieces of crochet, like a tablecloth, you

end up with lovely smaller bits that can

make interesting embellishments.

Place the lace and doilies on the

background fabrics, and move things

around until you find a satisfying

composition.

Tip: Dark doilies show up best on lighter

fabrics and vice versa. Use long strips

of lace to move the eye up and down or

sideways. Sometimes 2 narrow pieces of

lace next to each other form an interesting

pattern.

Stitch the piece1. After you are satisfied with the

composition, pin the doilies to the

quilt top using very fine, long pins

and then tack them down using a

lightweight (50wt) cotton thread in

a matching thread color. If they are

fiddly, use a stiletto or the tip of a

seam ripper to hold them or move

them into place when stitching.

2. You can use a walking foot or a

regular piecing foot for flat lace and

doilies.

Tip: Thick crocheted doilies can be difficult

to sew down with a regular foot. Try using

a foot with a large inverted dome of plastic

to hold down thicker pieces while you

stitch. (figure 5) You might also consider

changing the pressure on the foot.

“Domestic Bliss” • 23" x 41"

figure 4figure 3

figure 5

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3. Once everything is tacked down,

layer the top with batting and

backing, baste, and quilt.

Tip: I like to use heavier thread (30wt

or 40wt quilting thread) in colors

that contrast with the doilies and the

background. Consider using variegated

thread for interest. Try echo quilting around

the doily or add free-motion motifs in the

negative spaces. (figure 6) Hand stitching

and embroidery are also fun additions.

By creating and displaying a piece

like this, I aim to honor the work of

craftswomen who came before me, and

to showcase their work with mine.

bluemoonriver.com

figure 6

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