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-   -   Am I the only person in the world that has fabric that shrinks? (https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1/am-i-only-person-world-has-fabric-shrinks-t73845.html)

bearisgray 11-04-2010 05:02 AM


Originally Posted by garysgal

Originally Posted by AnnaK

Originally Posted by Favorite Fabrics

Originally Posted by AnnaK

Originally Posted by May in Jersey
Wonder if I wash my body in very hot water and then dry it in a dryer will I shrink a few inches? If I could find a stand up dryer I'd try it, LOL! May in Jersey

Let me know how this works. You may have just started something. LOL

Yeah but... what if the shrinkage is vertical, not horizontal??

And I'm a little worried about the "crinkly look"...

And I think the iron would hurt!!

L O L ! !


I think the "crinkly look" comes with age.
:-(

butterflywing 11-04-2010 10:50 AM


Originally Posted by Prism99
Washing before quilting and washing after quilting makes a difference in shrinkage. If fabric is closely quilted to a batt, the amount of shrinkage will be determined by the batting instead of the fabric.

Harriet Hargrave made a quilt to prove this. She used unwashed *flannel* in a quilt, then machine quilted it and washed it. The flannel did not shrink as I would have expected; she had used a batting with max 3% shrinkage (I think it was Hobbs 80/20).

Fabric shrinkage will be much more noticeable in quilts that are tied or do not have quilting lines close together.

I do not prewash fabrics and use Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, which is a very traditional batting. My quilts come out looking like antique quilts -- evenly crinkled because the batting shrinks, but not distorted by uneven or excessive fabric shrinkage.

I'm thinking that the true test of fabric shrinkage in a quilt is washing after quilting rather than before quilting.

what if it fails the test?

Elliotsgreatgrandma 11-04-2010 05:41 PM


Originally Posted by May in Jersey
Wonder if I wash my body in very hot water and then dry it in a dryer will I shrink a few inches? If I could find a stand up dryer I'd try it, LOL! May in Jersey

I'd try it to if it would work. But I always preshrink all my fabric. I learned the hard way once and now do not take the chance again. Gail

connie_1936 11-04-2010 07:36 PM

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DID THIS. I USE LIQUID STARCH AND DO THE WHOLE PIECE AT ONCE AND HANG TO DRY. IT SURE MAKES CUTTING AND PIECING EASIER. IF I'M DOING SOMETHING WITH BIAS CUTS I MIX THE STARCH SO ITS A LITTLE STIFFER. IF I WERE A TEACHER THAT WOULD BE MY FIRST LESSON. I THINK A LOT OF FIRST TIMERS GET DISCOURAGED WHEN THEIR BIAS CUTS STRETCH AND THE FABRIC SLIPS WHEN THEY ARE CUTTING OR SEAMING. IRONING TWO STRIPS TOGETHER WHEN THEY ARE STARCHED ALSO ACTS LIKE A LIGHT GLUE HOLDING THE LAYERS TOGETHER. THE ONLY THING I DI DIFFERENT FROM YOU IS I WASH IN COLD WATER AND DRY ON MEDIUM.

costumegirl 11-04-2010 07:58 PM


Originally Posted by Sandra-P
I never used to pre wash my fabric until one time when I made placemats and some of the strips didnt shrink and some did. What a disaster. Now I wash before I use it in hopes that I dont have anything like that happen.

I usually pre wash but after talking to a few friends at a LQS who never prewash I deided to try it because I hate the ironing and the time it takes. Well, never again!! I had the same experience with this happening and it was with the 'good LQS fabric'! It was a mess!!! I definitely will always pre wash for all of the reasons that have been mentioned!

glenda5253 11-04-2010 10:38 PM


Originally Posted by Favorite Fabrics

Originally Posted by AnnaK

Originally Posted by May in Jersey
Wonder if I wash my body in very hot water and then dry it in a dryer will I shrink a few inches? If I could find a stand up dryer I'd try it, LOL! May in Jersey

Let me know how this works. You may have just started something. LOL

Yeah but... what if the shrinkage is vertical, not horizontal??

And I'm a little worried about the "crinkly look"...

I am going to wake my husband up one of these nights cackling(sp?) so loud at you gals!

:-D :-D :-D

Cuilteanna 11-05-2010 12:37 AM

If I had to pre-wash fabric I'd never make another quilt! Ten years later I've still never had a problem - the batting always shrinks more than the fabric does.

bearisgray 11-05-2010 05:20 AM

Just wondering -

Do any of you non-washers measure your finished item before and after washing it a couple of times?

If you haven't, how can you KNOW for sure whether it changed shape or not?

Scissor Queen 11-05-2010 06:23 AM


Originally Posted by bearisgray
Just wondering -

Do any of you non-washers measure your finished item before and after washing it a couple of times?

If you haven't, how can you KNOW for sure whether it changed shape or not?

I'm not that obsessive. It's whatever size it is. The bed can still wear the quilt even if it shrinks a couple of inches. Lap quilts and baby quilts will fit all laps and all babies even if they shrink some.

bearisgray 11-05-2010 06:33 AM


Originally Posted by Scissor Queen

Originally Posted by bearisgray
Just wondering -

Do any of you non-washers measure your finished item before and after washing it a couple of times?

If you haven't, how can you KNOW for sure whether it changed shape or not?

I'm not that obsessive. It's whatever size it is. The bed can still wear the quilt even if it shrinks a couple of inches. Lap quilts and baby quilts will fit all laps and all babies even if they shrink some.

I agree that one of the biggest bonuses of quilt-making is that most items have some leeway in what is an acceptable finished size.

There also seems to be quite a bit of leeway in what is considered acceptable "change" in a washed item that would not be acceptable in a purchased garment.

That wasn't the point or intent of the question -

When someone says "it doesn't matter to me" - that is one thing -

I worked with engineers for a while - and the tolerances in their work was relatively crude (plus or minus 0.005 inch) and I absorbed some of their way of thinking. I also learned that "offness" could be cumulative.

I realize that quiltmaking will always be an "approximate" process - the question is how much "approximateness" is tolerable to each maker.


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