Saturday, July 19, 2008

Spray Starch and Sizing


I love the puckery look of washing and shrinking a quilt after it has been layered and quilted. That's my preference. There are some fabrics that absolutely must be pre-washed however. For example, Batiks will bleed their dye everywhere the instant I forget and don't pre-wash them.
I believe it's okay to mix pre-washed and not pre-washed fabrics in the same quilt top -- puckers, remember. The one thing to overcome when mixing fabric like that is the texture. Pre-washed fabric and fabric straight off the bolt at the store behave differently. Here's why: textile manufacturers use sizing on the fabric to give it more body.
So, to make pre-washed fabric behave like new from the store fabric, use a spray starch when ironing.

2 comments:

  1. Enjoyed looking at your blog.....the gingerbread potholder is too cute!! I'm not a quilter, but an avid cross-stitcher and I've been making oodles of heart-shaped yo yos lately, so I've become a collector (of sorts) of fat quarters, that's my latest stash! You can use them in lots of ways! And I do love tea, so I think it's needleworkers in general that love tea! God bless......Marie

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  2. Thanks Marie, sorry I didn't notice your comment before. After I posted my opinion on tea I was informed that all the quilters a friend of mine knows drink mostly coffee -- not tea. She seemed to think I was just an Anglophile (is that how it's spelt) a fan of all things British, and it had nothing to do with quilting. I'm so glad to know another needleworker is a tea person too -- it restores my belief in my own sanity. :-)

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