Originally Posted by yonnikka

Reading all 4 pages of Comments, you will have a full range of experiences, decisions, and opinions. Consider one more point: the straight grain of your fabric. Is it important? Those 5 inch charms, and WofFabric strips that we buy or are given? Sometimes they are cut 'akilter' and when I examine the grain, they are WAAAAAY off. I prefer to sew straight along the grain. And some cuts of yardage? After it has been washed and dried, on the ironing board the cut side looks like a Chevron, a giant V because the fabric was cut askew. I iron the fabric specifically to Straighten the Grain. This is important to me. I avoid most collections of pre-cut Charms and small cuts of unwashed fabrics, for example, from Swaps. When I walked into my sewing room, where my stash of fabric is, and breathe in an oppressive, chemical odor that leaves my lungs gasping? I KNOW that is not a healthy state. It is the off-gassing of unwashed yardage. Sometimes I open a box of fabric, and that chemical odor is strong. I wash that fabric, and tell myself that I know better, shame on me.