Needle holes in fabric

[Juliet W.]

I am following a weekly Stitch Along on the Internet and at the end we were asked to echo quilt, I managed this on my piece without doing FMQ but I didn't like it. I have unpicked it and taken it all out, the fabric is Liberty Tana Lawn and now has a ton of holes in it. I tried wetting it and ironing it which did improve matters and am now wondering what else I could do. Will the holes disappear with washing? It's a wall quilt, four pieces suspended vertically and I wasn't going to wash it. What if I wet it and put the piece in the dryer? Would they disappear or would it just ruin the appearance of my piece? Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Juliet W.]

If I find needle holes are bothering me, I wet them and let them air dry, that usually does it. If this didn't help, the dryer might help but expect some shrinkage, so your will have to do it to all of the pieces to get them to look the same.

[Juliet W.]

Thanks Ritzy, I just tried steaming them with the iron without actually pressing down and that helped quite a lot, fortunately the fabric is a busy small floral print and only a quilter with her nose up against the work would notice now so I think I had better leave it alone until morning and look at it again in daylight. I have never done this sort of thing before and am accustomed to washing the finished product and tossing it in the dryer but I think that might not be so good for my first "Art" oriented attempt! I had heard that the fabric is supposed to shrink back around the hole when you wet it but although the holes get considerably smaller they don't totally go away.

[Juliet W.]

If the piece can take a hot iron, then I like to use Best Press. It takes the holes out quite nicely on most fabrics.

[Juliet W.]

I live in Venezuela. Is Best Press a starch product? I imagine so but just want to check. Down here we get Niagara spray starch.

[Juliet W.]

Yes, it's a brand of starch. Niagara would work just fine also.

[Marianne G.]

Margarita, you can also try putting ice cubes over the area. Remove them before they melt, just let them start to melt. The extreme cold can make the cotton temporarily shrink - but it depend on the fabric. Did you pre-wash? I pre-wash all my fabrics and have had success with ice-cubes.
Marianne

[wendy w.]

I scratch the holes with a finger nail or needle which works on batiks :?

[Juliet W.]

Well, this is all very interesting information. I wouldn't do the needle thing on this fabric - it's Liberty lawn and not as strong as quilting cotton - but I am going to try the spray starch. Thank You Everyone!