Originally Posted by
Sewnoma
Funny, I don't generally starch after I pre-wash my yardage but it sounds like many of you do(?). I rarely rarely rarely use starch at all, usually only when dealing with pieces that are cut on a bias, and even then I usually only remember to starch after they've all been cut out!
I also don't iron my yardage after washing. I pull it from the dryer when it's still a bit damp (my dryer conveniently has a setting just for this) and let it hang to dry completely, then wrap it on comic book boards. That keeps it pretty flat. I usually have to kiss it with an iron before cutting, but just briefly, to get the fold lines out and maybe smooth some wrinkles near the selvedge..
I'm getting to the point where I DON'T like the feel of unwashed fabric, because I'm so used to handling pre-washed stuff. I feel like I can't tell what the hand of it is really like. I'm not going to be starching it once it's in a quilt, so I want to know what it feels like without any sizing/starch.
Good thing there's no quilt police, so none of us are doing it "wrong".
Amen, to most of above. I always prewash and never, ever starch any fabric before using. A year or so ago, I bought some pre-owned fabric, which had been starched within an inch of its existence. I washed that fabric countless times (after six, I stopped counting) and to this day, it's STILL stiff with baked-in starch! All I can figure is the previous owner must have heavily starched it and then ironed it with a very hot iron. No, it did not wash out, even with the addition of vinegar. It's still sitting in my stash, earmarked for something such as shopping bags, which don't require a nice hand.
Anyway, I wash the fabric and then fold it, straight from the dryer. Sometimes it needs a light touch-up, just before cutting, but usually not. It's never 'limp' because I try to stay away from very thin fabric.