Fabric Quality
 

As a new quilter I was very excited when someone offered me fabric from her stash of probably fifty years. She had been a supervisor in a thrift store for years so she had every quality imaginable. Now as I spend hours and hours cutting and sewing and sewing again trying to get it right I wonder how long these quilts will last I did not use the worst fabrics but as I spend more time sewing I realize some are still pretty poor. I understand without seeing and feeling the fabric, it is hard question to answer but are you willing to give me some of your thoughts and experience. Thank you.

The older fabric is often better quality but I notice I get more lint in my sewing machine. Quality of fabric is crazy, I have gotten poor quality from LQS and Joanns. You just have to feel it, look through it and learn what fabric lines You like to work with.

How long a quilt will last depends on many factors of which fabric quality is only one.

How will it be used?

How frequently will it be washed?

How closely are you quilting?

Will it be in direct sunlight?

Is there chlorine in your local water supply?

How long is acceptable to you?

I do not make heirloom quilts. I make quilts to be used and abused. I would rather a quilt I make be in rags in 5 years, than sit on a shelf for 50. My quilts go to the beach, park, cover the seat of my car and sofa to protect the underlying upholstery from dirty pet feet.

My quilts will be washed in the machine and line dried in summer, but will go in the dryer in the winter.

The one place I am cautious is with binding. It often gets more wear and tear than the face or back of the quilt. I like bias binding and tend to use new (less than 10 years in stash) for that.

Binding does get the most wear. I remember having quilts made by my grandmother that we used a lot. At some point my mother replaced the bindings on most of them.

Wash every piece before you use it. You can decide as you press it whether it suits your purpose. There is no shame in donating fabrics that don't. There are crafts that can use lesser quality fabrics and crafters are happy to find them in a thrift store. I don't care about the age at all, just the feel.

I agree with pre-washing for fabrics that age. Washing will get rid of any chemicals and tighten up the weave, plus you will know to toss if a fabric is going to fade a lot. The biggest problem with old fabrics is probably with the dyes. Loose weaves will either tighten up or remain awful after washing. Dyes may or may not be as colorfast as we expect today.

---ditto---
plus .... pre-washing can also sort out some of the less-desirable fabrics.
Sometimes what I thought was a really good fabric, seemed more cheesecloth-like after washing.
The pre-washing will get out the filler in the fabrics, and let you know what you really do have!

A few tips if you are able to shop in person for fabric.

1. Can you see through it? You shouldn't be able to. Thin fabric ...ew.
2. Does it stretch much in either direction? It shouldn't stretch from selvage-to-selvage, and shouldn't stretch too much the other direction.
3. How does it feel? If it's soft and drapes nicely in your hand, you will enjoy it as a quilt. If it's coarse or scratchy....nah.

Online shopping is different. You're best off getting just 1/3 or 1/2 of a yard of a fabric
you're not familiar with, until you find out if you like it. If you do, order more right away, because when fabrics are gone, they're gone. Manufacturers produce new lines and phase out the old quite quickly in the quilting industry.

I just go by the feel. I pre wash all my fabrics when I get them home. I dry in dryer and fold on regular and have very little ironing or pressing until I start sewing it.

I have also read - somewhere, maybe on here - that bias binding lasts longer; wears better.