bearisgray

I can understand the confusion with all the different opinions - that you will see elsewhere and here, too!!

I think some things one learns by trial and error. The bigger the error, the better one remembers the lesson!

One example:

Should one wash one's fabric before cutting it?
The opinions run from:
1) I consider all fabrics available in stores now to be needle ready and I will cut and sew it as it is straight from the store. No water will touch my fabric!!
2) I wash some fabrics that I might think will be problematic. (Although how one tells which ones might be problematic just by looking at them is still a mystery to me) Or are in big pieces. I won't wash little pieces because they are a bother to wash. (Although I still do not understand how a fabric can be problematic when it's a large piece and okay when it's a little piece.)
3) If it's washable, I will wash it before cutting it.

So- how does one decide which is the best or correct way to do things?

There are several camps - just on that one question - on this board.

I don't have a definitive answer on how to decide which is the best way. I think use your sense of what seems reasonable for some of the answers to your questions.

Experience will be your most authoritative instructor!

And when it comes right down to it --
There are some people who refuse to let facts interfere with their strongly held opinions.