On starching fabric

I never knew it would be that practical! But after trying every theatre-trick from heavy fabric and wired seams to iron-on interfacing to get nicely shaped collars and all, I decided to use old-fashioned starch. My only experience so far has been with potato-starch, but it worked nicely and I didn't discover any disadvantages so I guess I'll stick with it. The starch-water-ratio may vary, depending on the size of your spoons and the thickness of the starch you want to produce, but all in all it has proven best to make some heavy starch basis that can be diluted to get the desired mixture.

1 litre of water
4 teaspoons (!) of starch (NOT tablespoons; you'll end up with a bowl of goo)

Mix the starch with some cold water. You'll get a whiteish puree. Pour in the cooking water and stir well to avoid the forming of lumps which you won't want to sit on your fabric. The white starch will turn into a rather clear liquid. If it's still too gooey you can add water until you've reached the desired consistency. If there are too many lumps in it you can put it through a fine sieve before putting in the clothes.

Put the damp fabric into the starch for a moment, squeeze the excess water out gently (you don't want to end up with wrinkles in your collar) and lay the piece flat, allowing excess water to drip off. Dry it quickly, either in the sun or on the heating, and when it's only damp, iron it into the desired shape.

PS: It even worked very well to get the crispness back into tulle that I had had to wash, as well as into dupion silk that had turned a little limp after washing. And if you use too much starch, you'll be able to design an origami dress... ;)