Ironing Fabric and the "Crinkle" Look
 

I used to wash and iron every fabric I got on intake, so it would be clean and ready to go when I wanted to use it. Lately I realized I might regret "pre-shrinking" all this fabric if I wanted that crinkly look for a project. So I just steam-ironed everything to get the wrinkles out, folded, and put away. How much would this steam-ironing affect shrinkage? I'm assuming it has to shrink it to a degree (I'm using the cotton setting). Will I still get the crinkle look at all with the fabrics I've ironed? Thanks! :)

I believe the crinkled look comes from the batting shrinking. If you use washed fabric and batting that isn't pre-soaked, you will still get a crinkly quilt. In fact, I get some crinkle even though I pre-soak my batting and air dry my quilts.

I think you should still be okay. It may shrink a bit more on a second washing.

You should get more crinkling if the fabric is preshrunk and the batting is cotton and is not preshrunk. If you think about it if you get a bit of shrinking from fabric and some from batting you get less crinkle. A cotton batting will give on average 3- 5 percent shrinkage. As the batting draws up in the shrinkage, it lifts the fabric as it can no longer lay flat.

I wash my fabrics when I get them, also. However, I iron them when I am ready to use them. It seems that the ironed fabric gets folds that have to be ironed out anyway after they have been stored for later use.

As long as you use cotton batting (and don't pre-wash the batting), you will get the crinkle effect. Just be aware that polyester batting doesn't shrink; in that case, any crinkling is due to the fabrics.

This is all great advice, thank you! Good to know there are always other ways. Now if only I hadn't been ironing my fabric wrong. I always ironed and not pressed uncut fabric and not necessarily with the grain. There is so much to learn and keep track of. Now I'm trying to determine how to get my fabric back "on grain" after ironing or washing. Maybe it doesn't matter until I'm ready to use it.

Really, there is not much of an issue at all with "ironing" rather than "pressing" yardage. Where it becomes more important actually is when ironing seams while piecing. This is when aggressive "ironing" of a seam or a block instead of careful "pressing" can distort pieces or blocks. Also, there is unlikely to be any issue with yardage being "off grain" after ironing. "On grain" cuts are more important in clothing construction rather than quilting. This is because with clothing the pieces tend to be large and the direction of grain affects how the garment drapes on the body. Quilt pieces are, for the most part, small so grain becomes less of an issue. If you starch yardage heavily before cutting, you can even piece bias cut edges with no distortion (assuming you are careful). If you handle cut pieces carefully, blocks carefully, sashings carefully, and the unquilted top carefully, off-grain cuts won't matter. As long as the quilt top lies flat, you can quilt it and, once quilted, grain is no longer an issue at all because the quilting holds all the layers together in harmony. :)

Thanks for the reassurance! I haven't started making clothes yet and probably would not be using my cotton wovens anyways. It's scary to see things listed as "no-nos" that I am guilty of! I know there's a lot of opinions rather than musts out there but it does make me question myself sometimes!

I pre-wash all my fabrics & pre-soak my batting and always get the crinkled look. Cotton batting and cotton fabrics will give you that look. I know I see some people who suggest pre-washing on hot & drying on high heat... maybe that would make a difference -- and if you barely put in any quilting that will also limit the crinkled look, but as long as you wash it after you finish the quilt (I wash mine in Cold water on the Delicate setting & dry with Low heat) it will get that look. The more it gets washed, the more crinkly it will get over time.

And I think the "rule" about pressing rather than ironing is mainly important when working with bias cuts. If your pieces are all squares or rectangles, I don't think it makes any difference. When you start working with triangles, hexies or circles, the fabric can become slightly stretched out of shape/off grain. If you're not planning to enter it into a competition, I wouldn't worry about it much. Your quilt should still be beautiful.

The craziest rule I learned in a Craftsy class was that when working with white fabrics, you need to mark either the vertical or horizontal grain line. Apparently, under certain lighting conditions the exact same fabric from the same bolt will appear a slightly different shade depending on whether it is laid out on the horizontal or vertical grain. That just seems like complete insanity to me. I suppose if I were going to put a quilt in a major show and thought I actually had a chance to win, maybe I would take the time to mark all those pieces (it was an Irish Chain), but mostly that just seems WAY too picky for my taste.

Thanks Bree, that's helpful too! The only quilt I've completed is a rag quilt, so I only used flannel (which I did pre-shrink) and haven't worked with batting and traditional quilting yet so I don't have personal experience to take into account. No competitions here yet so I should be good :)

I have noticed occasional stretching at the edges after ironing which made me realize it might be an issue - but glad to hear that for the most it won't be after cutting the fabric.

I have been using wool batting lately. ANyone have any issues with it shrinking on them? How would I pre-soak batting. Never tried it. I am worried about some of the gifted quilts not being washed properly and shrinking a lot.

meanmom, I haven't tried pre-soaking wool batting because the potential shrinkage indicated is very small. If I recall, the wool battings indicate shrinkage of 1-2% while the cottons say 5%. I guess the wool shrinks quite a bit when it's being processed for the batting.

The method I've used for Warm & Natural is given on their label. You soak the batting, squeeze it out, press between towels and put in the dryer on warm. Some people have said that they spin it (but the package says not to, so I haven't).

The only other batting I've pre-soaked is the Hobbs silk. The above method didn't work well for that; it absorbs an enormous amount of water and is quite stretchy when wet. So I handled with extreme care and laid it out to dry the last time, and that worked well.

I remember reading an account by someone who had tried pre-soaking Hobbs Tuscany wool, and it dissolved! Quilter's Dream wool is thermally bonded, and I was told that if exposed to heat, it will completely flatten out. Quilter's Dream urges that their batting not be pre-soaked, as it is so easy to damage when wet and heavy (although the rep who responded to my email did concede that it would be okay to pre-soak a cotton bat and lay it out to dry, if done very carefully). I will probably do that with Quilter's Dream cotton; I can't wait to try that, as everyone raves about it.

I think if you pre-wash your fabrics, wash your quilts before passing them on, and include washing instructions with the quilts when you give them away, you shouldn't have to worry too much about them.

I iron hard and starch heavily before I cut the fabric. I like my fabric stiff as paper when I cut. I get the crinkle look after it's washed and the fabric relaxes.

100% correct. Wash fabric not batting. Works for me.

Skylark,
I was thinking some more about this & realized that if you are ironing on the bias, that can pull it a little out of shape, but I always figure that's why we square things up as we go. Pressing is ideal & it's what I usually try to do, but old habits die hard and in any case it's a minor issue that is easily remedied if it ever causes a slight stretch.

btw -- I'm kind of jealous of all your beautiful machines. :)

Thanks everyone! It's great to know that even with different ways of doing things, we can still get the results we want :) I find pressing isn't very effective for me (though if I've cut something down I do press) but I'm paying attention to which grain stretches less when tugged, and ironing that way. Making everything look real nice on the comic book boards!

And thanks Bree! Just got the treadle on Saturday. There are many pretty vintage machines.