Here's a Tip: No Fray Spray Alternative

Today I wanted to make fabric flowers, but wanted to find a solution to the fraying edges when using cotton fabrics.  I read about No Fray Spray, basically a spray on Fray check which would be the ideal solution to my problem.  Since I'm watching my finances and I can't wait for it to be shipped to me (since no local store carries it), I decided to conduct an experiment to find an at home remedy.

You might wonder why I didn't just use Fray Check... well, I just can't see myself Fray Checking a gazillion flowers.  I think I'd lose my mind.  Either that or I wouldn't enjoy the process and creating for me always needs to be fun.

So here's my experiment:
I cut out 3 sets of layered flowers.

• First set: I didn't do anything to them.  I just cut them out an ironed.
• Second set: I cut them out, sprayed extra crisp starch on them and ironed.
• Third set: I sprayed the piece of fabric with starch, ironed it, cut out the flowers, sprayed with starch again, and ironed again.

I folded the circles twice and then secured the bottom corner with a stitch.

Then I fluffed all of the flowers for 30 seconds each to see how much fraying would occur.  This is how it looked after the fluffing.

The first untreated fabric frayed quite a bit.  The second, once treated fabric frayed a little. And the last fabric flower held up well. I also like how it's a little stiffer and fuller than the other two.  It won't hold up in the wash, but I think my starching technique will work just fine on flowers for headbands, brooches, or hair clips. I'm off to make a bunch more! :o)