Fabric ?
testing adding smileys to the post
09-16-2011, 12:52 PM
#34
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 2,254
Great answers you got. If you're using steam to press that would account for the shrinking. Personally I'd take it apart even though it would hurt, but when you are making it for your DH there is a whole lot of love going in there too.
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 10-16-2011 at 03:38 PM.
09-16-2011, 12:59 PM
#35
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,406
I bought a Michael Miller solid black at a LQS -
it shrank over two inches in width.
I paid almost $9.00 a yard for it.
Are some of you teliing me I bought a poor quality fabric because it shrank - a lot?
Couldn't be - I bought it a a LQS - maybe I didn't pay enough for it?
Maybe it wasn't a "good enough" brand?
I find that washing fabrics before cutting them may minimize a lot of aggravation further down the road. (A bit like using seat belts MAY minimize the physical injuries in a car accident)
it shrank over two inches in width.
I paid almost $9.00 a yard for it.
Are some of you teliing me I bought a poor quality fabric because it shrank - a lot?
Couldn't be - I bought it a a LQS - maybe I didn't pay enough for it?
Maybe it wasn't a "good enough" brand?
I find that washing fabrics before cutting them may minimize a lot of aggravation further down the road. (A bit like using seat belts MAY minimize the physical injuries in a car accident)
09-16-2011, 06:56 PM
#36
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Rochester, Minnesota
Posts: 1,795
Originally Posted by Moonpi
Originally Posted by simplyme
I do not pre-wash my fabric but I do iron everything with starch.
09-16-2011, 08:21 PM
#37
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: colorado
Posts: 9
Country Cotton that I bought at Joann's shrank SO MUCH I had to rip everything off and start all over. The heat from the iron (and I do use steam)and the spray from the starch was enough to shrivel it. I'll not use anything but Kona cotton from now on.
09-17-2011, 01:55 AM
#38
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Some where in way out West Texas
Posts: 3,041
Originally Posted by GailG
Originally Posted by callie
Some fabrics do shrink with steam (or washing). I had that same problem a little over a year ago... and I discovered it when I was pressing.
this reminds me of something I learned in a stretch and sew class many years ago. The fabrics were stretch polyesters that looked like wool, linen, etc. We used a woven fusible interfacing. BEFORE we did the fusing, she had us to place the interfacing in place and set it with our hands getting it all neat and ready to fuse. THEN we held the steam iron about an eighth of an inch hovering over the interfacing and then we gave it a blast of steam without the iron touching the fabric. We could SEE that interfacing fabric draw up. We did this over the hole piece until it had drawn up as much as "it wanted to." Then we fused the piece in place. Washing the garments was never a problem with shrinking interfacings. That may be an idea that could be used in quilting. I know I use it on occasion to test the shrinkage of my unwashed pieces before I seam them.
09-17-2011, 02:07 AM
#39
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: NY
Posts: 2,497
I never knew shrinkage could happen with material. I only purchase 100% cotton. However, there's been a few occasions when after pressing, some pieces 'looked' smaller when I knew I cut them correctly. Now I know why.
I've also never washed and dried fabric before cutting and piecing. Maybe I'll give it a go with the next quilt. Thanks for the advice fellow quilters!
I've also never washed and dried fabric before cutting and piecing. Maybe I'll give it a go with the next quilt. Thanks for the advice fellow quilters!
09-17-2011, 04:48 AM
#40
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,406
I started measuring "before and after" a couple of years ago to see if it was really worth the effort of washing the fabrics before cutting them - and if I was imagining the shrinkage or if it was really occurring.
Some cottons don't seem to shrink at all.
Some shrink "a lot" - like two inches or more in width or length or both!
I bought a length of Roc-Lon tea dyed muslin that said it was pre-shrunk. In my opinion, that was an inaccurate statement. It shrank a LOT more after I was done with it!
I made some "pillowcases" for some couch cushions - one of the very few times I did not wash the fabric before cutting it - they were "baggy" when I made them. Now I need to wrestle them off and on the cushions. This particular fabric has always been washed in cool to tepid water - dried to damp dry - and put back on the cushions while damp just so i can get them back on.
Some cottons don't seem to shrink at all.
Some shrink "a lot" - like two inches or more in width or length or both!
I bought a length of Roc-Lon tea dyed muslin that said it was pre-shrunk. In my opinion, that was an inaccurate statement. It shrank a LOT more after I was done with it!
I made some "pillowcases" for some couch cushions - one of the very few times I did not wash the fabric before cutting it - they were "baggy" when I made them. Now I need to wrestle them off and on the cushions. This particular fabric has always been washed in cool to tepid water - dried to damp dry - and put back on the cushions while damp just so i can get them back on.
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