quilter2090

When I buy fabric from ANYWHERE, it gets washed the minute it comes in the house. Then it gets put in the dryer and if I'm not using the fabric right away, it gets put into storage. When I am going to use it, I press the fabric and then use it for garments or quilts. Maybe it's because I sewed garments before sewing quilts, pre-washing was just the first step before making the garment. Before making the garment, the fabric is treated the way the finished garment is going to be cleaned,either by washing machine or dry cleaning. The reason why? So that when construction of the garment is done, when it is laundered, there would no nasty surprises. Nothing is worse,than spending all the time and the money for the fabric and making a great garment and then having it ruined after being cleaned. Trust me, you only do that once and you learn your lesson. Look at it this way, you learned a valuable lesson. Good Luck!

purplefiend

Bearisgray,
I'm sure that I have some of that black fabric in a quilt that I made for my mother. It has 100s of black squares in it, after 3 washings the black fabric shredded, making the quilt for display only. I was heartbroken. I've heard that some dyes used for black fabrics are very acidic.

I also pre-wash all of my fabrics for both quilting and garments due to shrinkage and allergies. I don't want my finished garment to shrink like the store bought clothing does and there is also the dye bleeding problem. I zig zag the raw edges of my fabric before washing.
Sharon in Texas

shasta5718

It is getting terrible, the prices for sewing now. the fabric isn't as good either. I almost miss polyester, at least it didn't fade or shrink. We need to complaine when we get poor quality and not buy the ones that are overpriced and maybe it would do some good. I think the manufactures are just taking advatage of the quilting craze.

RosaSharon

I learned from an expert on fabric that most shrinkage occurs in the hot dryer from the POUNDING. You can't depend on the water in the washer or even a hot iron. I don't use detergent and just use the rinse cycle on gentle wash. If you cut little marks around the edge it won't fray. Different cottons shrink at different percentages so it is important to pre-wash in order to keep the fabric from shrinking after it is made into a quilt. For this reason I use Dream Green Polyester batting so it doesn't shrink. Some say it is hot. I say turn the heat down at night.

Jingle

I have bought fabrics from wal mart and hobby lobby. Never any problems with any of it.
I always prewash. I have bought some from a quilt shop, joanns and CC on the net. Seems to me the more I pay the possibility is greater it amy have problems. So far, knock on wood, I haven't had any disasters.
So sorry for how your projects turned out.

junebug987

So sorry about your napkins. I'm also a pre washer, several oh my accidents without. I have bought fabric from Wally world, love their $3.99 price, and have had good results. Waverly fabric used to be high end, but it seems not all the time unfortunately.

cathyvv

Always do, always will. However, I have gotten some awful fabric from LQS as well. So I almost always wash fabric first, dry in the dryer and fold it up right out of the dryer. I press it when i'm going to use it.

cathyvv

I've used Waverly fabric on several quilts - after washing and drying. The quilts turned out nice. and the color held well.

cathyvv

It's possible that the black fabric dry rotted over the 20 years it sat waiting for use. that would explain the shredding. That's what happened with a cotton drapery that I'd had up for about 20 years - never washed in all that time (shame, shame!). Finally took them down and washed them and they fell apart, huge tears. Oh, well.

I can offer no explanation for the sooty stuff. Yuk.

bearisgray

Actually, a friend of mine needed some black and she got several yards off that bolt shortly after I had purchased it. She's the one that told me that it shredded in the wash! But I did not do anything with the rest of it until recently. Now I know what she meant.