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Debate: Should you prewash fabric before sewing or not? My last project bled like crazy in the wash.
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grantp145mo ago
Oh man, I learned this one the hard way too. I never used to prewash and thought it was a waste of time until I made a quilt that turned pink after the first wash. Now I prewash everything cotton or linen for sure. The shrinkage alone is enough to ruin your whole project if you skip it. Plus with cheaper fabric, you never know how bad the dye will run until it's too late. Isn't it better to deal with the prewashing hassle than to cry over a ruined finished piece?
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spencer7825mo ago
My wife made a similar mistake with a baby quilt years ago. She mixed a dark blue flannel with a cream muslin and the whole thing came out looking like a tie-dye disaster after the first wash. Now we have a rule in our house - if it's going to be washed more than once in its life, it gets prewashed before it even touches the cutting mat. The dye running is bad enough, but I've learned the hard way that shrinkage can be really unpredictable. Some fabrics lose 5 percent or more depending on the weave.
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jamie9405mo ago
You're totally right @spencer782. I did the same thing with a red flannel on a patchwork throw blanket for my nephew. The red bled through onto the white squares on the very first wash, turned the whole thing into a blotchy mess. Now I prewash absolutely everything, even if I'm just making a simple tote bag. The shrinkage on cotton flannel is brutal too, I had a quilt shrink unevenly once and it never laid flat again. Has that ever happened to you with the thicker fabrics?
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