Clothing from quilting cotton..is it ok?
 

I really want to make some children's clothing and the cotton prints are very cute but now I have reservations about using them. I have been reading a lot about not using quilting cotton to sew clothing. Are there any particular reasons for not using quilting cotton for sewing clothing?
Thanks
Kim

I know of no reason why quilting fabric can not be used for clothing! The only issue that I see is that since it is 100% cotton then it may be wrinkled after washing and need to be ironed! UGH!!!! who likes to iron!

I don't see why not. Just remove from the dryer immediately to avoid wrinkles.

I wear blouses made from "quilting cotton" all the time ---you can't find the poly/cotton blend anymore that I used for years---I do a lot of ironing tho. Bounce Ironing Spray is wonderful for taking out wrinkles tho---one little spray and they are gone !!!!

I make pajama sets for me from quilting cottons all the time! Can't beat the crazy novelty fabrics and some of the florals are just out of this world!! My LQS has some store samples of little girls dresses hanging in the store. I was in there one day and a lady came in that makes boutique childrens clothing on etsy.com and she bought lots of quilting cottons. (She gets $35-45 for a dress that wasn't fancy at all. It was the fabrics that drive her prices!)

That's what we used to 'live in' - feed, flour, and sugar sacks were made of cotton!

I'm still not sure why 'not suitable for children's clothing' is stamped on some selvages of smooth, woven cottons.

Not trying to me mean or ugly here but that has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Many of us use all types of cotton for sewing and quilting. Cotton is one of the most manageable materials out there. I just make sure to prewash my cotton fabrics before sewing and/or quilting with it.

Yes, you can use quilting cotton as apparel fabric. The main thing to remember is that quilting cotton tends to be stiffer than apparel cotton. It isn’t particularly soft and has a stiff drape. It works best when made into structured garments. The fabric is sturdy and holds up through many washings. In general, quilting cotton makes very casual garments and is utterly adorable when made into simple little girl dresses. You’ll find that sewing with this fabric is incredibly easy. It’s easy to cut, doesn’t slip and slide, it holds a crease and irons nicely. See why it’s popular with quilters and sewers alike?

Whoever is passing that information on that you can't use quilting fabric to sew clothes with knows jack about fabrics IMHO.

Personally I can't wear clothing that has a blend in it and has to be 100% cotton and everyone around here that I know of uses what is coined I suppose as quilting cotton fabric to make clothes as well.

from above: "I'm still not sure why 'not suitable for children's clothing' is stamped on some selvages of smooth, woven cottons."

They aren't fire retardant.

I made a couple sets of pillow cases from my stash and wasn't crazy about them. With lots of washing they have a tendency to look not so bright, and of course always need pressed (for me anyway)

I'm going to look for some kind of polycotton mix in the regular fabric stores next time I need something.

Daisy Kingdom pretty much based their marketing on how well their fabrics suited children's clothing.

My clothes are made with 100% cotton, any kind. I always wash any fabric first before I use it.

I also meant to say that I remove my cotton clothing from the dryer as soon as its done and hang it and smooth it down to prevent wrinkles.

Shoot I can remember my mother making our clothes out of those flour cotton sacks more than half a century ago and it wore well.

I think the salvage stamp has to do with fire retardency, but I would rather not have some chemical fire retardent put on the clothes the kids/ grandkids are wearing anyway!

I think this could have something to do with the flamability issue for childrens sleepware.....somewhere I think there
is a law to protect children in their pj's......

The only thing that would keep me from making clothing out of quilting fabric is the cost! I made a jumper from batik once and yes, it was cute, but it cost me a fortune.

I've made clothing from "quilting" cotton, for years. It's sooooo comfy!!! Just make sure you pre-wash, so that you don't end up with a wonky garment! :D

Cotton is cotton. Look in another store and you might very well find "quilting" cotton among the regular cottons.

I also think the term 'quilting cotton' is so --------- (annoyed scream here) limiting!!!!

THANKS!! I appreciate your input. I really wanted to use some of the cute fabrics but like I said, after I did an online search, there is a lot of information about not using it. I am going to give it a try, some of those prints are too cute to pass up.
Kim

Go for it, nothing is better to put on than clean crisp cotton.

At last count I had made more than 50 scrub tops for my daughter from quilting cottons. The brightness fades a little but they wear well.

I`ve made many dresses with quilting cotton and thy are absolutely wonderfull.....so many beautiful colors and patterns....and thy stay like new after many washings....no problems at all...just more expensive than poly/cotton...just take them out of dryer before thy are completely dry....

I've noticed some cottons wrinkle very little - and others are almost worse than linens for rumpling.

I use the scrunch test when I buy fabrics - I grab a handful of it and scrunch it up hard in my hand - then release it and see how well it does - or doesn't - release wrinkles.

There are only 2 reasons for not using quilting fabric for clothing. One - you hate ironing. Most cotton clothing needs pressing. If you avoid styles that use collars and long sleeves, probably not a problem. My Mom can't stand to see me in an unpressed apron, :shock: but it doesn't bother me in the least bit.:p The second reason, as others have stated, are children's nightwear. The problem is not the cotton, but the design of the clothing. If you design the child's clothing to be body hugging with no frills, you make it safer.

Most flame retardants in children's nightwear washes out after 10-15 washings. It is the styling that reduced the number of burning injuries more than the fabric change. In most states, however, you cannot sell children's nightwear that you have made unless you use the stuff made specifically for children's nightwear (all poly). Way better choice than letting the kid sleep in oversized T-shirts (which are responsible for many burns today).

There are only 2 reasons for not using quilting fabric for clothing. One - you hate ironing. Most cotton clothing needs pressing. If you avoid styles that use collars and long sleeves, probably not a problem. My Mom can't stand to see me in an unpressed apron, :shock: but it doesn't bother me in the least bit.:p The second reason, as others have stated, are children's nightwear. The problem is not the cotton, but the design of the clothing. If you design the child's clothing to be body hugging with no frills, you make it safer.

Most flame retardants in children's nightwear washes out after 10-15 washings. It is the styling that reduced the number of burning injuries more than the fabric change. In most states, however, you cannot sell children's nightwear that you have made unless you use the stuff made specifically for children's nightwear (all poly). Way better choice than letting the kid sleep in oversized T-shirts (which are responsible for many burns today).

I am in the process of making some capris from quilting cotton. A couple of sewers have recommended using fabric or interfacing reinforcement for certain types of pockets because of their tendency to tear in thinner cotton fabric. I've decided to change my pocket style to one they use in men's bermuda shorts (it ends up in the waistband) to avoid that problem.

most of the novelty prints you see are on 100% cotton. I made jumpers/skirts from them for my own DDs years ago. now I make them for GD. Down side is the wrinkling, but if you are aware you can minimize wrinkles by taking it right out the dryer and hanging up.

Now the Fabric Police will know why so many bolts of fabric have crumpled corners! :D
I verrrrry discreetly scrunch it, with my fingers.

I think it may say that because it's not fire retardant like I think fabric actually sold for children's stuff is supposed to be. It's just to prevent lawsuits, I'd imagine.

I look at it this way, that cloth has held up in quilts for years so I would think it would be fine for kid's clothes.

Is Daisy Kingdom even still around? I loved their fabrics when DD was little. They had those fabulous little pre-printed outfits for her & her dollies... too cute!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Okay - who else does this????

"Not suitable for children's sleepwear" is included because the fabric is not treated to be fire resistant. Most children's pajamas, from what I know, are made to be a little more fitted, and treated with some sort of fire retardant (which then washes out over time, especially if you use dryer sheets) to help your child survive in case of fire.

That said, I use cottons to make PJ pants for my family all the time. Yes, they wrinkle, but they're PJ's. Nobody cares. (I don't make shirts because that's too much work when they can just wear a T-shirt which is more comfortable anyway.) If you want to make shorts or a cute little dress, I say go for it! :)

My absolute Favorite Blouse Of All Time (yes, I capitalized that on purpose) is made from pale pink 100% cotton. It has to be 7-8 years old, is super soft, and is getting to the point where the seams are fraying and the underarm area is wearing so thin you can see through it. :D I just purchased some pink Moda Bella to make myself a new one.

I make almost all of my boxers out of quilting fabric. There are such cute prints. I sew boxers for my husband, 1 adult grandson, and 1 younger grandson, and one grand son-in-law.

the flannels which are stamped ' not suitable for childrens clothing' is due to childrens pj's are treated with a flame retardent chemical (which by the way washes away after about 20 washes) so by law---because someone had a child injured or killed because their clothing started on fire- sued the manufacturer- so now any fabrics that manufacturers think might be used to make a child pj's put the warning on it to protect themselves-
if your country was not so (sue happy) we would not have to worry about all the stupid warnings on everything we purchase...but unfortunatly that's where things have progressed-
since the chemicals wash away after a while it really (to me anyhow) makes no sense-means nothing-
you can make kids clothes out of anything you want- just for crying out loud- keep them away from fires! any fabric will burn and or melt...and who really wants their kids sleeping in clothing saturated with chemicals?

Isn't it amazing? When I started making quilts, they were made of cottons sold for clothing sewing. There were no quilting cottons. I don't think the quilt police will be snatching clothing made out of the so-called quilting cottons.

I agree with this 100% have used quilt prints for blouses, camp shirts and even long circle skirts some fabrics might make the skirts hang better but I loved the print too much, I have even used them for costuming.... I would dare to say anyone who says not to use them for garments is severely misinformed!

I gave my neighbour some quilting cotton for dresses for her "Down Syndrome" sister, she needed them to be cottons as her sister doesn't like man make fibres. The dresses she made out of them were gorgeous, she is a proficient Dressmaker, and her sister loves them. She hasn't mentioned any problems with them and that was 2 - 3 years back!

Yes daisy kingdom is still around Joann sells some of their stuff don't think the do the fancy border prints anymore but they are cut fabric..

Bigsister, I like to iron! Not kidding, I really do. I do not iron items like our grandmothers did like sheets and pillow cases or underwear, but I do iron shirts, pants, skirts just to make them look crisp and fresh. Guess I learned early that I could make money from ironing and I never lost the drive. Any way, one reason some may not want to use quilting fabric is that the frequent washing may result in fading to some extent but if you have lots of fabric, use it. I have made lots of kids clothing of 100% cotton and they did just fine.

Our mothers also spent and inordinate amount of time with the iron, the sprinkling bottle and bent over an ironing board. I say use all cotton if you don't mind spending one day a week ironing. I have better things to do.

I have made my grands many, many, outfits with quilting cotton and not only are they adorable but they wear beautifully. My dl says the outfits are their favorites and I think it is because they breath, being 100% cotton. If taken out of the dryer immediately wrinkling is not a major problem.

I know I sound like a pessimistic old lady (which I am) but remember "quilting cotton" and quilting products are a very big business right now and the ad people know just which button to push to get you to buy their product. If we can buy gadgets for quilting at places like Harbor Freight, we shouldn't feel guilty about buying fabrics for our quilts from another section of the fabric store, or made to feel that we have to go to the LQS in order to make a beautiful, useful quilt. We all really need to use our well earned common sense.