DIY buckram

[frualeydis]

So, I couldn't get any buckram. Well, historically at least, buckram is linen drenched in glue. So I took some medium linen, not really coarse, but too coarse for shifts in my opinion, and put it in a mixture of water and the kind of glue you use when you glue wooden things together (for indoors use, so it's water soluble). Lots of glue, not so much water. Then I dried it and ironed it when it was not quite dry. It turned out stiff, but not stiff enough so I'm going to cut out two of every piece and glue them together with the same glue. It will probably need the night to dry, but I'm looking forward to see how it works.

Comments

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

I've tried the same thing, just to see if I could get it to work. I never managed to get anything stiff enough for hatmaking, but then, I was trying to get something stiff enough for a full atours / hennin.

[merastra.livejournal.com]

Cool! Experimentation sounds fun. ;-)

Did you consider trying flour or eggwhite for your glue? Not that I know anything about period glues but I've heard of those two substances.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

I did think of flour glue, but forgot that thought again. Anyway, two layers, glued together seems to work just fine. I'm working on fine-tuning the shape now. Or rather did, since it's bed-time now.

Eva