lfstamper

Does any one know if you can use nylon rick rack on quilts? I have a lot of rick rack that is nylon versus cotton or polyester and I was not sure if it is ok to use on quilts or baby clothes.

Thanks for your knowledge.

Linda

Prism99

I think it would be fine. Nylon won't shrink whereas cotton fabric often does shrink, but even so it should not be a problem for quilts or baby clothes. For baby clothes, I would probably pre-shrink the cotton fabric before cutting and sewing. I do not normally pre-shrink fabrics for quilts and probably would still not bother to do that even if using nylon rick rack on a quilt.

If you are at all unsure, make a test swatch of fabric and rick rack and wash to see how it turns out. Do the same with a quilt test sandwich. Sometimes a test swatch can save you a lot or worry and/or a lot of disappointment.

Bree123

I have. I do pre-wash all my fabrics so I can't say whether that makes a difference or not. The rick-rack washes just fine. Sometimes it will curl up a bit around the edges. If it really bothers you, you can press it down with a warm iron.

The only reason I've heard not to use it is because some people do not like synthetic fibers for baby quilts since they melt instead of burn meaning that potentially they could melt & stick to the baby's skin. I don't use much rick-rack anyways so I don't really worry about that. The melting feature is a bonus for sewing because when you burn the ends of the rick-rack, it will melt them just a little bit & keep them from fraying with use/sewing/washing. I use a short stitch length to attach it (1.5mm). It makes it extra secure.