I am working on a Pendrell blouse with some fabric that I bought at fabric depot in Portland, OR last time I was home visiting my parents. The other afternoon while I was running the fabric through Elphaba (who was doing a marvelous job of seaming), I got to thinking about how luscious the fabric felt in my hands. It was soft, with just enough thickness in it to tell me it wasn't quilting cotton, just enough stretch to tell me that it was going to feel marvelous on my body, and just enough texture to make my fingers hum with excitment! Do you ever let yourself completely drown in the tactile experience of exploring your fabric? Does just the feel of a certain fabric make you dream up particular garments or projects or memories?
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| The fabric that has me gushing about texture |
When I pre-washed it, I debated whether or not to use fabric softener in the wash. I ended up using the fabric softener, but it did get me to wondering if my online sewing cronies had any thoughts. Softener? No softener? What do you do with yours? I love using it to help my fabric become even softer right from the get-go, but I am curious to whether or not it is a bad idea, especially with a very first wash.
So what are your thoughts? Recommendations? Horror stories? Please, do share.
xo
Hi Montana
ReplyDeleteThe fabric stores here in Brazil advise you to immerse the fabric (folded as it came from the store) in a bucket with plain room temperature water. I leave it for a day and let it air dry. They claim that it is the shock with the water that causes the fibers to shrink regardless of water temperature.
This summer I have made 2 cotton dresses: they were machine pre washed with soap, softener, 105 degree water and straight to the drier. After they were completed, ALL shrank with subsequent washes. So now I immerse the fabric in cold to warm water and all my hand made garments are hand washed (immersed with gentle soap and a little softener) and air dried. But that works with fabric made in Brazil, not sure about the fabrics made in the US or China, or if there is any difference between them. I figured that if I spend all the time I do on a garment it won't kill me to hand wash... Looking forward to hear any other thoughts. Good luck!