Getting Costumes Ready for Westfest

Westfest weekend is Labor Day Weekend in West, Texas. This Czech festival is in my hometown of West, Texas. (See Westfest link along the right side of the blog.) At Westfest you will see one of the largest selection of authentic Czech costumes anywhere. I am busy getting my daughters' costumes ready to wear at the Parade of Costumes on Saturday, September 5 at 2:00 and throughout the weekend. Authentic Czech costumes take a great deal of specialized care. For more tips, see my earlier post dated July 19, 2009.
The first thing I do is to wash, starch and hang to dry the petticoats because the petticoats provide the proper structure for the costume. If your petticoat does not stand on it's on, add more starch. I washed our petticoats in the washing machine but you may need to hand wash. I stopped the wash cycle and let them soak for thirty minutes in Clorox 2. After the rinse cycle I soaked the petticoats in full strength liquid starch and then let the spin cycle spin out the excess. Then, I hung the petticoats outside spreading them out as much as possible. I spread them out as much as possible to prevent them from sticking together and making ironing easier. After drying completely, I ironed them. I ironed them several times. 1) Just iron without using spray starch, both front and back. 2) Iron them with heavy starch, both front and back.
Check back later or follow this blog for more tips. If you have tips or just information on Czech costumes, email it to me. I welcome comments. This site is free and is a great way for us to help each other. Sharon.
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