KastleKitty

I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.

Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.

I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!