Cloth Books
 

I am making a cloth book from a panel that I bought at my local quilt shop. I will wash the fabric before I give it to my DGD but not sure if I should wash the panel before I cut it apart or should I wash the finished book - or maybe it doesn't matter.

I think if you are washing the fabric that will be used with the panel for the book, I would go ahead & wash the panel also. I recently used a Charlie Brown panel in a quilt (it was a book panel but I cut out the pages for a quilt) and I washed it first. I normally don't pre wash fabric but this quilt was a cotton/flannel combo quilt & wanted to make sure all shrunk the same.

I bought a Winnie the Pooh panel on eBay & pre-washed it (cold water on gentle cycle with a dye-free detergent, dry on low heat) and it came out fine. I always pre-wash everything. In the case of the panel I bought, the pages went back to back so I didn't have any other fabric.

I never thought to wash the finished book, but I guess I could have.

Just be careful that the fabric dries flat and square.

If prewashing is your choice wash the panel Before cutting up.

I would cut, piece and stabilize (either with a fusible interfacing or by quilting onto a batting) before washing. Panels are notorious for distorting and being difficult to trim and square evenly -- and that is just going to be magnified if you pre-wash.

I make books all the time and wash after they are put together.