Attached is a scan showing similar fabrics - I bought the darker one at a garage sale - and I'm going to assume it has been washed.

The lighter one is one of "mine"

I feel that overcasting minimizes fabric loss and definitely keeps the washing and drying neater.

See, now that's why I don't pre-wash ;) !

I do run a damp white cloth over, esp. dark colors & batiks, but I've never had a problem. The only thing that bled at all was a Debbie Mumm Christmas print. That darned thing was still turning water pink after three washes!

Edited to add that I do pre-wash when needed for swaps, and you are right - it can make quite a mess, not to mention the knotted up wad the fabric itself becomes.

Yeah, that's the only time I prewash also (swaps). I like the damp cloth idea!

thanks for sharing, good idea to overcast the raw edges before washing

I read somewhere if you cut just a bit off each corner of teh fabric, it will not get knotted and unravel. I had some success with it but not convinced.

That is what I do before washing and it works very well for me.

what does it mean to Overcast?

It has been a while sense I saw a term I didn't know. What is overcasting?

Same here.

Overcasting - can be done by hand - or by machine.

Overcasting is enclosing a raw edge with sewing - so that it doesn't ravel.

If you look carefully, you can see stitches on the edge of one of the pieces - that's done with a serger. It can also be done with a zigzag stitch.

Here is a link to what hand overcasting looks like.

http://www.simplesewingprojects.com/...ercast-stitch/

Thank you for the explanation

Okay you guys are going to die on this one and think "this guy is out of his mind" BUT..............

I never prewash fabrics but if I think that they might bleed in the wash then I will hand wash them out in the wash tub with my 120yo wash board just like my GG-Ma did.

Billy

I do kinda the same thing billy, but i just do it in my kitchen sink. and let it soak for a couple of hours in luke warm water. and drain and repeat till the water stays relatively clean for two draining s. My hubby isn't too thrilled with this. but what can he do. hehe. he doesn't do the dishes or clean up the kitchen so he can complain all he wants. until he is ready to do something i wont listen.