I pre-wash my project fabrics and use either Sta-Flo in spray bottle or canned spray starch depending on the amount of fabric in my projects. Once I have the starch on the fabric, I roll it up and put in a plastic bag for several hours. Then I iron all the pieces. This way the starch soaks into the fabric and makes the fabric really nice for cutting and sewing. I have been doing this for over 40 years while I worked and never had a problem with my fabric. I usually use one weekend for this process and do up to three projects at a time. I would then use another weekend to cut out the fabrics for each project; allowing me to sew only for two months. I found every time I skipped these steps, my project became a disaster.