Fabric Preparation
You found the perfect pattern and purchased the best fabric you could find for it. Now that you have your plan in mind, it’s time to start getting your fabric ready to use. But where do you start?
The fabric you have may be “too pretty to cut” or maybe you aren’t sure if you should prewash. Maybe you aren’t confident in your cutting skills. Here are some tips, pros and cons, and general knowledge on where to start when you are ready to create.
To Prewash or Not to Prewash
Tossing your newly acquired fabric into the wash has been a controversial topic since the invention of the washing machine. There are pros and cons to washing (and not washing) your fabrics. No matter which way you choose to go, it really comes down to a matter of preference.
PROS:
When your quilt needs to be washed, everything will shrink at the same rate (if made from the same materials). This prevents seams from coming apart and prevent further shrinkage.
Excess dyes will release during the prewash process, preventing or limiting color-bleeding across the quilt.
It removes chemicals and sizing added to the fabric in the dying process. This can be crucial for those with allergies or sensitive skin.
CONS:
It takes too much time. Sometimes life gets busy and you just want to make a quilt. Washing brings extra time to the project. Not to mention the ironing needed once it is dry…
Although this was also a “pro”, added chemicals can make the fabric slightly “crisper” and makes for easier cutting and quilting.
If you love the look of a fluffy, puffy, puckery, cozy, cuddly quilt, then prewashing fabric before quilting is not for you. Washing a quilt, over time, will give it the ever-loved “crinkle”. This is a slight wrinkling in the fabrics caused by washing that most quilt-lovers look for. It give the quilt an “antique” looks, which some quilters love.
Personally, I rarely prewash. I only prewash if any of the fabrics are heavily dyed. In this instance, you would need to wash all the fabrics you will be using, including the backing fabric. If not, the fabrics will shrink at different rates causing warping and pulled seams.
Precuts and Prewashing
I highly recommend to not was precut fabrics. They will shrink and distort and it is highly possible they would be rendered unusable.
