i am going to start a crochet pattern (for a basket) that calls for a fabric stiffener; i am completely ignorant of such a thing. would i find it in the laundry aisle? is there one you would recommend over any others or is there only one kind?

tia!

I've used the Aileen's "Stiffy Stuff" before and its okay. My mom used it back in the '80's when big stiff fabric bows on baskets were the rage. :p You can normally find that kind of thing in a variety of places, more in the craft sections though. I, as we know, am rather cheap though so I often use either diluted white glue or liquid laundry starch or sometimes sugar water depending on the application and if I want to be able to wash it and re-do it later when it gets dusty or whatever. Glue and starch are basically the 2 options in fabric stiffeners. The difference with the commercial versions are in convenience. Sometimes its nice to just spray it from the pump thing rather than dip it in starch and worry about lumps.