dms

I bought a name brand quilt kit that I love, but the fabric seems thin. I was wondering if anyone else had noticed that experience or if anyone knew the reason for it or if I was jumping to conclusions by thinking it was an inferior fabric by being thinner. I would appreciate knowing what you think.

mountain deb

I have heard cotton prices up, so fabric quality is down, thus thinner fabric. Also, manufacturers idea of saving money, because us quilter will never know or can not tell the difference. Who knows!

dunster

Sometimes the manufacturers use a thinner thread, which produces a thinner fabric, but with a higher thread count. It may be marketed as 'cotton lawn' or may not be identified that way. Is it possible that you have that? It's still a good fabric, but I don't like mixing it with other quilting cotton.

sewingsuz

I have noticed the fabric I have had for a while is better quality then some of the new stuff.

sherian

This is also true about batting the high loft and heavy batting. Also sewing needles, and pins. I took some back, they fend getting them out of the package or trying to sew or pin with them. She said they have had trouble with this.
That metal cost has really gone up and they are adding to the metal making it softer. The worst are made in China, and
walmart needles and jewelry making supplies. They put clearance on some of the items. At Joann's said she only goes to quilt shops for needles and pins. Me too. Here I run into people who ask what do you do about needles and pins also thin
fabric. I Really think we are in for a hard time here. Run into trouble return so the vendors will make changes.

cathyvv

I very recently bought someones stash of fabrics which date back to the 1990's through at least 2003 (based on dates on selvages. Some of the fabrics are thinner than others, some have a kind of brittle feel to them (even after washing).

This is exactly what I experience when shopping for fabrics now, and it doesn't matter where I shop. I buy what I like and what feels good to me. Of course, as with all of us, my purchase choices are influenced by price. However, if I don't like a fabric for any reason I won't buy it at any price.

Having said that, it's possible that kit makers use 'lesser' fabrics in the kits simply because you can't touch or feel the fabrics beforehand, especially if you buy online.

mom-6

Thinner is not necessarily inferior. It may just be a different type of cotton fabric. In fact there was a time when the heavier fabrics were considered of lesser quality.