44"-45" Inch Fabric Not Measuring Up
 

One of my guild's community service projects this year is blankets for vets. The criteria is they MUST be 45" square. OK, I found some really nice fabric at my local quilt shop that I thought a vet would really like, green with pretty gold medallions, so I bought enough to make 2 lap quilts.

Well, guess what. The fabric measures 43", not even 44", and it's 42-1/4" if you eliminate the narrow white strip running down the width of the fabric. Now I'm sure I can fudge a little on the lap quilt, but when I'm paying good money for quality fabric, and the description says 44"-45", I think it should "measure up". Don't you?

I believe cotton fabric 'averages' 42-44 inches and not 45 exactly. Guess it depends on the manufacturer even with the 42-44 inches.

Most of the most recent fabrics are only 42-44 inches wide. I think the pattern is older and needs to be changed since fabric has become smaller.

I noticed quite a while ago that fabric seems to have gotten narrower. And also that some of the higher end manufacturers are making their selvedges really waide... like really wide. Ick!

Nowdays it is rare to get a fabric that has more than 42" of usable width of fabric. If you truly need 45" you may need to add a border to get up to that size.

I think 42" - 43" is the industry standard nowadays.

i've seen plenty of 40" fabrics on the shelves too- it is important to read the end of the bolt which tells you the width of the fabric, the thread count and the fiber content, the manufacturer---holds more information than simply a price-

I am sure there are many factors which effect the width of fabric, especialy the origin of it manuifacture, quality of the cotton, number of pases through the dying/printing process. Some years ago I asked a friend who designed about the width because her fabric was coming thru at 40" as well as 41, 42 etc. She said they only assure the fabric is at least 40". If you measure all the pieces in a single line of fabric, you will find differences in the width. It depends on where the piece was manufactured. At one time the simpler patterns were produced in the USA while the more detailed from overseas.
Knowing the fabric has become more important now a days than ever before Read the label/end of the bolt and buy/work accordingly. I have even found some at 39". One just must account for this difference.

And besides being woven narrower, I've recently found that the shrinkage seems to be WOF only, sometimes more than 2". The length of fabric doesn't seem to shrink at all.

Put a border on

I just figure all fabric at 40" wide and go from there.

when calculating for shopping i count on the fabric being 40" wide when all is washed and ready for cutting.

everything else is gravy.

aileen

I have fabrics from over 20 years ago that are only 42 inches wide. So it isn't just a NEW thing.

Read what it says on the end of the bolt. If you want to 'see for yourself' - carry a tape measure with you.

You may also want to 'assume' that there may be some shrinkage - As PaperPrincess says, WOF fabric shrinkage can be drastic - although I've had LOF shrinkage, too.

Interestingly enough to me, some of the 'so-called' lesser brands like VIP, Marcus Brothers, and Peter Pan usually were 45 inches, whereas some of the 'so-called' better brands like Kaufman, Hoffman, Alexander Henry tended to be narrower.

Go figure - pay more - get less!

I guess they are just like most of the companies now days. Notice how 1 pound soon became 12 oz. and 5 pounds of sugar became 4. I guess it is happening to fabric now.

Maybe we'll end up with the 36" width from back in the "olden days"

To be truthful, I never pay attention to the width, and it's wasn't an issue until my guild placed a MUST BE 45" for the requirement on the vet quilts. I think I'll let them know there is no such thing anymore and they should rethink this particular requirement because I'm sure a lot of the gals making the quilts will go with whatever width the fabric was on the bolt and square it off in that width so most, unless they add a border, will be less than the 45". I know that's what I'm going to do.

It doesn't surprise me.
After all a 2 x 4 is 1 7/8 x 3 7/8
MK

It's sort of like a 2x4 - they are no more 2x4's than a fabric is 45". Perhaps the instructions meant the size should be 45" and you can take 42/43" fabric and make a border to come out to 45". I have done that!

You could also use 108" backing fabric and there you have 45" twice - enough for two quilts without a border. You could use the leftover for binding or sashing. One way or the other, we are all so smart that that lightbulb goes off on the top of our head and we sit there and say "Duhhhhh" and then sometimes we just cannot see the forest for the trees. Been there - Done that - more than I care to count! But it all works out one way or the other.

Those vets are going to be very lucky Warriors!! God bless you.

Edie

If the fabric was less than the desired size, then I would put a narrow strip down the middle and perhaps across making two large blocks or a border around it. Folks will call you creative.....To me, fabric has never been consistently the same width even in the same fabric line. I have been to a fabric manufacturer and know the greig goods comes from different surces and will shrink differently in the printing/dying process. Some will say "live with it and work with what is there" I have been told by fabric companies they only guarangee width within a certain range. Also, does the receiver of the quilt demand they be an exact size - say 43"? Also hen I have backing that is slightly less in with than I need, I will just sew a strip of contrasting fabric down the middle to make it wide enough rather than by 2x the width and have the extra sitting around.

When I'm drafting a pattern I always figure on 40" width of usable fabric - never over that.

By the time you trim the selvages, it will probably be closer to 40". Perhaps, you should consider a border???

Why haven't I thought of that? Instead of adding skinny strips down each side of the backing when it is a bit too narrow, I will now add a wider strip down the middle or offset to one side a bit. So much easier that way!!! Thanks for turning the light on for me folks. LOL

It's like the size of lumber too. A 2 x 4 is not actually that size either. It's a way to make us not notice the ever increasing costs of goods.

ditto - I have been quilting for 30 years and even back then it was rare to get a full 45" of usable fabric. HOWEVER the selvages were much smaller then, today some of them are ridiculous!!

the 2" x 4" is the measurement before it is planed. It has always been that way. You can buy unplaned lumber for full measurement, but wear gloves when you handle it!!

Nevermind toilet paper! Narrower rolls and more loosely wound and yet you pay more. They've really figured out how to make selling toilet paper--which everyone has to have--more profitable! lol

Maybe, if enough of us start returning the fabric, they will go back to 45 inches lol!

if the guild wants a perfect 45" back they are nuts, you have to allow 2" all around for quilting, so that would mean fabric at close to 50"...even a 45" wide batting will vary if washed/shrunk properly!

but if that is what they want, then put a strip down the middle of the back

Supposedly, the selvages are not included in the WOF (per a website I found), but if you measure most fabric, then the 44/45 includes the average (I've seen) 1/2 on each side- meaning you get about 40-42" usable fabric. Batiks can be narrower because they are done by hand and there is no selvage to speak off.

See http://www.fashiondex.com/howtos/htstfm4.php middle of the page. This an apparel fashion website, but the info in general should apply.

Same thing happened a year ago, one of the ladies in our Sewing Quilting group at our church, bought a 3 yard piece of 90" fabric at a 'well known' fabric store. She paid top dollar. The next week we were trying to fit the pieced top onto the backing. Guess what? After trying and trying to get it pinned together, I got the tape measure. The material was only 88" and that only if you really tugged on it.

She took it back, they haggled on the return because it was a CUT piece of fabric. She said when you sell expensive fabric off a bolt that says 90", it better be 90". I'm thinking it's happening because everyone is trying to save money but at the consumer's expense. My sister bought a CD at Wal Mart. Took it home tried to play it, skipped all over the place. Tried to return it, they don't take back CD's and a list of why not. She got the manager, he said it was opened.
She asked him how she would know it's defective if she didn't open it and play it. He said he couldn't return it and would have to eat the loss. She said well I'm the customer and I'm not eating the loss.

I'm e-mailing everyone and I know and posting on FB, Wal Mart sells defective CD's, don't buy them because they won't give you your money back. And I can prove it with a CD that doesn't play and my receipt from your store. She got a store credit (which didn't matter to her as she shopped there from time to time). She then went to a music store, had the proprietor open and play the disc, before she would purchase it. So it's all over, the cutting corners.

By the way, we orded the 90" fabric off the Internet. It was a perfect fit!

Having been caught out by this myself on a current project, I have decided now to base all measurements on 40" wide fabric.

Remember when you used to have to dig the tomato soup out of the can? Now it pours freely--and is in a smaller can. Less product and more more money. The same goes for fabric.
We're being charged more per yard and the widths are shrinking. Used some older fabric from my stash last week that was a full 45". Now most is 42", so beware when you are figuring fabric amounts or you'll be way short of what you need.
SandyQuilter

Don't blame WalMart for the defective cd, blame the manufacturer. Walmart also has a guarantee - "Satisfaction Guaranteed" - and if you are ever not satisfied, get the corporate phone number and call them. They will fix the situation if possible. Trust me, I have called them and they did fix it. We, the consumers of all products, have to stand up for ourselves. I refuse to let anyone, or any store take my money without giving me a good product. More than once my husband has walked out of the store when I have given the management a large piece of my mind.

The width has been getting consistantly smaller than 44/45 for the last few years. It is very rare now to find a real 44/45 wide fabric in 100 percent cotton. Will it be that long before we go back to 36 inch wide fabric? Seems like we are half way there now.

That won't help. The store can't do anything about how wide the fabric is. That's up to the manufacturer.

I should add, that I agree that the bolts should be correctly labeled as to the width (for truth in advertising). That said, once again it is the manufacturer who labels the bolts, not the store.

Somehow I doubt that stores will be measuring the width of every fabric that comes through their door, and re-labeling those that are found to be incorrect.

I measure when I bring it home, and majority of the time it is what I asked for, save for a local store that short-changes because they really should be using a ruler and rotary cutter. But that story has been beaten to death. After I wash the fabric, I measure again and place a small label with size on the fabric so I know when planning a quilt, what I am dealing with. I remember getting 60" wide fabric many many years ago. Since most of the fabric now averages about 42", I too don't plan anything for more than 40". Just went through some stash yesterday and could not believe the differences in selvages. Some 1/4", others averaged just shy of 1/2", and one was even 7/8" inch on one edge, the other edge was 1/2". Odd.

I love making the 45" Speedy Baby II pattern. If I have 5" squares it goes even faster, but if not - I use up scraps and can use my own colors to blend. The center I can use a large design that fits the gift, or I embroider something in the center of the 16 1/2" center square. It works great for a lap quilt as well as a wedding banner quilt. The measurements are already listed - no guessing! The backing is pieced and it shows how to do it in the pattern.

http://schoolgirlsamplers.com/pdftut...peedyBaby2.pdf

This is my favorite pattern!

I always thought that the width of the fabric included both selvages.

get back to the quilt and ask why the 45" requirement. Do they assume this is the width of the fabric or is that the width for a wheel chair or some other logical measurement. If so then just add a border or strips inside or whatever