Lovin' the Safari fabric, and the contrast of the brights with a really bright white. Also lovin' the speed factor of pre-cut strips.
Slightly concerned with the fact that nothing is pre-washed, especially because of all the colors (with white, for Pete's sake!). I gave everything a good steam press before I started, which should take care of the shrink factor, but doesn't calm my fears about bleeding.
I'm not sure how/when the habit began, but I wash all my fabric when it comes in the door -- which can be frustrating sometimes, because there's that coming-home-from-the-fabric-store-let's-get-started-on-that-quilt enthusiasm that can lose serious momentum if there are enough light/medium/dark purchases to warrant more than a couple loads. Then there's the ironing, and the folding...and now it's just turned into housework, which makes it seem like a chore. Which usually means I get it all done and stacked and go veg on the couch with a glass of wine and watch TV because now I've just been working way too hard. I'll cut into that fabric tomorrow, when I have more energy.
I can understand not prewashing for wall hangings, and I realize that dyes are much more colorfast than they used to be so running isn't as big of an issue, but I'm still very hesistant to break this habit. And besides the "loss of momentum" scenario, anybody have a good argument for not pre-washing your fabric?
1 comment:
I don't prewash my fabrics, mostly because of the loss of momentum thing. I hate housework, so washing it as soon as I brought it home never seemed to work. I have a huge stash (I am not allowed to buy any more fabric, ever!), and there's no way I'd go back and wash it all now. I do like the firmer feel of unwashed fabric. When I sew, I want to just grab something off the shelf and GO. If I waited until I washed, starched, pressed, and folded everything, I'd never sew. I always toss a Dye Grabber or Shout Color Catcher into the machine the first couple of times I wash a finished quilt, and I haven't had any trouble with bleeding. I've even done a red, white and black quilt with no trouble. Of course, I like the puckery look that you get when you wash the finished quilt and it shrinks a tiny bit. Really, with the quality of fabric and dyes today, the biggest consideration for pre-washing is removal of the chemicals in the fabric. Some people have trouble with itchy skin and watery eyes because of them. Me, not so much, so I'll keep on grabbin' and goin'.
Post a Comment