Originally Posted by cjinvt
I was told by my quilting instructor not to pre wash. I did and it was kind of a mess with all the little strings etc, not to mention the bias moving around. So I was told orig to wash first, then she said don't do it, go figure.
If you overcast or serge the raw edges before washing, that eliminates/minimizes the raveling/fraying. I know it's an extra step when one is anxious to get to the fun part, but one will only "lose" about 1/8 inch of fabric on each end (under the stitching) versus up to 1/2 of an inch or more on each end due to raveling.