Am I the only person in the world that has fabric that shrinks?
11-02-2010, 09:01 AM
#1
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
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So many people have said they "have no problem" with using unwashed fabrics.
I measure most of mine "before" and "after" washing - I would guess that most of them shrink "some" and some shrink "a lot"
"A lot" to me is more than one inch in width (40-45 inch width) or 1/2 inch in a 36 inch length.
I measure most of mine "before" and "after" washing - I would guess that most of them shrink "some" and some shrink "a lot"
"A lot" to me is more than one inch in width (40-45 inch width) or 1/2 inch in a 36 inch length.
11-02-2010, 09:03 AM
#2
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: north east
Posts: 8,394
You're not the only one. That's one of the reasons I prewash just about every fabric I buy. I sure don't want put in all kinds of effort and time only to realize that my project got ruined because it shrunk in the wash.
11-02-2010, 09:06 AM
#3
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Location: on the Texas Coast
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I've never measured but can certainly tell the difference, that's why I prewash everything. I did not before I started quilting, sewed for years for my girls and grands, never crossed my mind to wash first!
11-02-2010, 10:07 AM
#7
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Outer Space
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Originally Posted by bearisgray
So many people have said they "have no problem" with using unwashed fabrics.
I measure most of mine "before" and "after" washing - I would guess that most of them shrink "some" and some shrink "a lot"
"A lot" to me is more than one inch in width (40-45 inch width) or 1/2 inch in a 36 inch length.
I measure most of mine "before" and "after" washing - I would guess that most of them shrink "some" and some shrink "a lot"
"A lot" to me is more than one inch in width (40-45 inch width) or 1/2 inch in a 36 inch length.
Yup. Lots of folks don't prewash, but I always do for this reason! That and bleeding. I know people always claim, "I've never had a problem..." But all it take is once to ruin months or YEARS of work.
11-02-2010, 10:07 AM
#8
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Location: Western Wisconsin
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Washing before quilting and washing after quilting makes a difference in shrinkage. If fabric is closely quilted to a batt, the amount of shrinkage will be determined by the batting instead of the fabric.
Harriet Hargrave made a quilt to prove this. She used unwashed *flannel* in a quilt, then machine quilted it and washed it. The flannel did not shrink as I would have expected; she had used a batting with max 3% shrinkage (I think it was Hobbs 80/20).
Fabric shrinkage will be much more noticeable in quilts that are tied or do not have quilting lines close together.
I do not prewash fabrics and use Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, which is a very traditional batting. My quilts come out looking like antique quilts -- evenly crinkled because the batting shrinks, but not distorted by uneven or excessive fabric shrinkage.
I'm thinking that the true test of fabric shrinkage in a quilt is washing after quilting rather than before quilting.
Harriet Hargrave made a quilt to prove this. She used unwashed *flannel* in a quilt, then machine quilted it and washed it. The flannel did not shrink as I would have expected; she had used a batting with max 3% shrinkage (I think it was Hobbs 80/20).
Fabric shrinkage will be much more noticeable in quilts that are tied or do not have quilting lines close together.
I do not prewash fabrics and use Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, which is a very traditional batting. My quilts come out looking like antique quilts -- evenly crinkled because the batting shrinks, but not distorted by uneven or excessive fabric shrinkage.
I'm thinking that the true test of fabric shrinkage in a quilt is washing after quilting rather than before quilting.
11-02-2010, 10:24 AM
#10
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3,586
Originally Posted by Prism99
Washing before quilting and washing after quilting makes a difference in shrinkage. If fabric is closely quilted to a batt, the amount of shrinkage will be determined by the batting instead of the fabric.
Harriet Hargrave made a quilt to prove this. She used unwashed *flannel* in a quilt, then machine quilted it and washed it. The flannel did not shrink as I would have expected; she had used a batting with max 3% shrinkage (I think it was Hobbs 80/20).
Fabric shrinkage will be much more noticeable in quilts that are tied or do not have quilting lines close together.
I do not prewash fabrics and use Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, which is a very traditional batting. My quilts come out looking like antique quilts -- evenly crinkled because the batting shrinks, but not distorted by uneven or excessive fabric shrinkage.
I'm thinking that the true test of fabric shrinkage in a quilt is washing after quilting rather than before quilting.
Harriet Hargrave made a quilt to prove this. She used unwashed *flannel* in a quilt, then machine quilted it and washed it. The flannel did not shrink as I would have expected; she had used a batting with max 3% shrinkage (I think it was Hobbs 80/20).
Fabric shrinkage will be much more noticeable in quilts that are tied or do not have quilting lines close together.
I do not prewash fabrics and use Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, which is a very traditional batting. My quilts come out looking like antique quilts -- evenly crinkled because the batting shrinks, but not distorted by uneven or excessive fabric shrinkage.
I'm thinking that the true test of fabric shrinkage in a quilt is washing after quilting rather than before quilting.
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