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44/45" fabric is now 40/42"??? Ugh!!
Just a complaint from a grouchy, almost over the flu, soon to be 65 years old quilter. I planned my 10 kids' flannel donation quilts to be about 39" wide (washed fabric) to be frugal with the backings. Well, first I did the no no and bought some from JoAnns online (only one pilled-and only one was thin). Lucked out there, after all the hoopla about JoAnn's flannel, I bought the backings from Connecting threads and fabric.com. Before I washed the backings, I wanted to see how well they went with the tops. Well, 3 of them are 40/41" before washing!!!!, the widths are all different on the rest. What a rip off, is the new standard 41/42"? Or barely that width? I haven't been buying much new fabric, as I want to reduce my stash - is anyone else seeing the width reduction? Is it all new lines of fabric? And the better quality brands too?
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Seems to be with a lot of fabric. I measure it when I get it home and alot of it is!!
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I have been seeing that written here on the QB lately. I think we will all have to bring a tape measure to our LQS when buying new lines and check the widths when buying on line. Another pet peeve of mine is...2 inch selvages! I searched for a certain fabric for a hamburger bun applique and when I found it, it had a 2 inch wide white strip along the selvage with the fabric line and maker's name on it. I still bought a quarter yard but I was peeved. I would have left it on the shelf but it was the perfect colour and I didn't want to go back to searching.
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I've noticed this to and I think it is a rip-off. The stores selling fabric, even the online stores, should bring this to our attention so we know exactly what we are getting instead of getting it home and then discover the difference. Notice they didn't lower their prices any!!
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I generally expect to have 38-40" usable fabric after washing. I hope your new purchase doesn't shrink too much. If it does, perhaps you could just sew a narrow strip of a contrasting fabric, maybe something left over from the front, into the backing, making it that much bigger. I know it's a pain to have to piece your back when you had planned the quilt to avoid that. Gotta tell you, life's tough after 65! Have a happy birthday.
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I never plan on more than 40" of useable fabric width...less for big shrinkers like flannel and muslin. Forty-five inch wide fabric went the way of the half gallon of ice cream quite some time ago.
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I guess it is like a lot of the things we buy....1 lb cans have slowely gone down to 14.5 ounces or even 12.0 ounces. Bacon is often regularly sold in 12 oz p, pasta's are being sold in smaller increments - for more money. Can't wait until some packaging genius tries to make the gallon of gas smaller than a gallon.................
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it's called how to raise prices without anybody "noticing" ... make the product smaller, keep the price the same!
I've been quilting for only two(?) years now, and I've never had fabric that was 44/45" wide... |
I was used to getting 44 - 45 inch fabric. Nowadays, it is mostly all smaller, so I take my tape measure with me. Online, I will not buy it unless it states the size.
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The "downsizing" seems to affect everything these days. I bought 4 cans of tuna the other day and they are now 4 oz when they all used to be 6 oz and no price reduction either! No more coffee 1#'s either....just another way to fuel corporate greed.
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