Mixing regular cotton and flannel
#1
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Join Date: Feb 2015
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Mixing regular cotton and flannel
Are there any issues I should be aware of if I mix flannel with regular cotton in a quilt top? I have some leftover flannel from some dresses I've made but not really enough to use for anything by itself and I'm hoping I can use it the same way I use regular cotton.
#2
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,535
Flannel usually has a looser weave then quilting cotton and needs a wider seam allowance. I would either sew the flannel all together with wider seams or mix it with cotton squares but still use the wider seams.
#5
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
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Same here. I also pre-wash every fabric I have. With the flannel I measured it first then threw it in warm to hot water and a hot dryer. A couple times. The second wash showed no more shrinkage. Learned a long time ago to use 1/2" seam allowance.
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,140
I agree with the others. Also, having learned this the hard way ... be sure to pre-wash your flannel in whatever laundering conditions the final recipient will use. Pre-washing in cold water/low heat does no good if your recipient then washes in hot water & dries on high heat. The flannel will shrink like crazy & the plain cotton fabric will crinkle a lot to compensate.
Flannel will stretch more readily than quilter's cotton. I take extra care in squaring up fabric, starch heavily & do extra basting when combining the two. I also find for piecing, putting the flannel on the bottom helps to ease in any little bit of extra fullness that may occur while moving through my machine.
Flannel will stretch more readily than quilter's cotton. I take extra care in squaring up fabric, starch heavily & do extra basting when combining the two. I also find for piecing, putting the flannel on the bottom helps to ease in any little bit of extra fullness that may occur while moving through my machine.
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malfromcessnock
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09-06-2011 06:19 AM