Crochet: Dealing with the Doily Stash

I was rummaging through some dresser drawers the other day, and I came upon my stash of doilies. Now, we're not talking about a few - there were over 50 of them - and I've got several more strewn throughout my house as decoration. These doilies came from a few sources: Several of them were made by me, over the past 40-50 years. Many of them were made by my mother, including some from before I was born, using really fine thread. I think that there are a few that my grandmother made long ago as well. And I suspect that my mother has picked up several at flea markets and passed them on to me ("Judy, I know how you love doilies!"). My problem, of course, is what to do with them. These doilies are definitely not going to wear out. I love the process of making them (as does my mother). But what then? The ideas below include things that I have seen over the years, as well as things that I have found recently on the Internet. Warning: I have not tried any of these projects. I've just started to think about dealing with the stash.

Original purpose: home decoration Place them on tables, dressers, sofas, bookshelves, under lamps, and so on. But you can only display so many at one time, unless you want your house to look very Victorian - and that is definitely not my style. (Actually, I'm not sure what my home decorating style is - it is definitely eclectic!) In the olden days (way before my time), doilies that were placed on the tops of sofas were called "antimacassars". From Wikipedia: An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric. The name is attributable to macassar oil, an unguent for the hair commonly used in the early 19th century — the poet Byron called it, "thine incomparable oil, Macassar." The fashion for oiled hair became so widespread in the Victorian and the Edwardian period that housewives began to cover the arms and backs of their chairs with washable cloths to preserve the fabric coverings from being soiled. Around 1850, these started to be known as antimacassars. They were also installed in theatres, from 1865. They came to have elaborate patterns, often in matching sets for the various items of parlor furniture; they were either made at home using a variety of techniques such as crochet or tatting, or purchased. The original antimacassars were usually made of stiff white crochet-work, but in the third quarter of the 19th century they became simpler and softer, usually with a simple pattern in wool or silk. By the beginning of the 20th century, antimacassars had become so associated in peoples’ minds with the Victorian period that the word briefly became a figurative term for it.

Window decoration A collection of small white doilies can be stiffened and hung close to a window pane, to resemble snowflakes. This would look nice in winter, but probably just weird in summer. (My opinion, of course!) Martha Stewart's website has instructions for stiffening these and a photo of a "cascade of vintage handmade doilies treated with fabric stiffener (that) forms a fanciful snowfall in the window".

Applied to cushion or pillow top It is really easy to make a cushion using a doily. Just sew a doily onto a square or circle of fabric, and use that fabric as the cushion front (complete the cushion by whatever method you want).

Stencilled to cushion or pillow top Martha Stewart's website has another idea, basically positioning the doily on a piece of fabric, painting over the fabric and the doily, and removing the doily to let the paint dry.

Wearable art This involves applying doilies (or cut-up doilies) to various parts of a vest or jacket or sweatshirt. It is easiest if you make the garment yourself - that way, you can insert the cut edges of the doilies into seams. I have seen many garments featuring this idea. Some are phenomenally and extravagantly embellished, while others are much more subdued. These garments were very popular in the 1990's, but I don't see them as much these days. Hmmmm - let's see - 50 doilies could be made into, oh, 20-30 vests or jackets or sweatshirts.

Make a Bib If the doily is reasonably soft, apply it to some terry cloth and make a bib that is suitable for a festive occasion.

Make a Tote Bag Use two doilies of the same diameter (12" to 18"). Sew them together, wrong sides facing, about 1/2" or 1" away from the edge, leaving an opening about 8-10 inches at the top. Make a lining to fit the inside of the doily bag. Attach straps to the lining. Sew the doily bag opening to the lining opening.

Trim a tablecloth This idea actually comes out the dusty corners of my memory. I once had a pattern for a round fabric tablecloth of a reasonably bright colour, and instructions for making several small doilies. The doilies were strewn over the tablecloth and sewn down with tiny hand stitches. Remember, if you don't have enough small doilies, you can always undo a larger one to the correct size!

Make a Bowl Dip the doily in fabric stiffener, cover a bowl with plastic wrap, and form the doily over the bowl. When dry, you have a decorative bowl. Depending on how lacy the fabric is, this bowl could hold candies or small gifts or other decorative items. You could also place a china or glass bowl into the doily bowl, and display flowers. No, don't pour water into the doily bowl!

Trim a Pair of Pillowcases This requires a sufficiently large doily, like a tablecloth that has least 80 inches in circumference, or 26 inches in diameter. Pillowcases are usually 40" around at the open end. You can use store-bought pillowcases or make your own. Cut the outermost 3 or 4 inches from the doily. Cut the ring into two equal lengths. Using a sewing machine, sew the ends of each half-ring together, then sew the ring onto the end of the pillowcase, with the cut edges of the doily inside. You may have to stretch or smoosh the ring to make it fit the pillowcase. It would be useful to cover those cut edges with some seam binding. Or put the cut edges on the outside, and cover them with ribbon. Of course, you are now left with a smaller ragged-edge doily. Carefully remove any loose threads, find the thread end, and undo one or more rows until you're left with something reasonably attractive, then fasten off.

Frame a Doily If you have a special doily, such as one that is made of really fine thread, get it framed and hang it on the wall. And if you know the origin of it, make sure that you document it on the back of the frame.

Decorate the Walls This is most striking if your walls are a different colour from your doilies. And if you are not renting your residence! Apply some glue to the backs of a few doilies, and glue them to the walls. You might want to experiment with placement of the doilies by using a temporary spray adhesive.

Trim a Valance For this project, you will cut several doilies in half. Position these halves attractively, and then sew the cut edges to the strip of fabric that will be hung from the drapery rod. The fabric strip should be long enough to cover the drapery rod workings.

Etch a Cake This is another Martha Stewart idea. This involves using a sheet of marzipan to cover a cake, but before transferring the rolled-out marzipan to the cake, press a doily into the marzipan quite firmly, remove it, and press icing sugar into the imprint.

Make a Doily Christmas Tree Go to the All Free Crafts website for this idea, designed by Jane Lake. This idea uses up 5 or 6 small doilies - they are dipped in stiffener, and then formed into boughs at various levels on a pencil that forms the main trunk of the tree. It looks so pretty!

Make a Christmas Ornament (recycled from a used light bulb) Go to the All Free Crafts website for another idea by Jane Lake. Simply wrap a 6" white doily around a light bulb (you know, the kind that we used to use before the compact flourescent bulbs came along). Tie the perimeter of the doily around the screw-in part, decorate the top, and hang on a tree.

Make a Suncatcher Go to the All Free Crafts website for still another idea, this one designed by Kathy Wilson. Just get a ring that is slightly larger than the doily, and use crochet thread to attach the doily to the ring. When you are done, the doily should be quite taut in the ring. Kathy started by spraying the doily with spray starch and pressing it flat.

And More Ideas Go to this website from some really modern ways to use doilies, designed by Paul Lowe. There are 14 photos, with instructions off to the right - click on the forward/backward buttons on the photo to move between them.