Preparation of Fabric
It is essential to remember that craft cotton is made from a natural fibre. By the very
essence of what a patchwork project is – different pieces of fabric from different
sources are brought together and made into one piece. Being natural cloth it is all
slightly different and should therefore be prepared before use.
It would be a terrible shame and such a waste for hours of work to be ruined because the
cotton reacted differently when washed.
There are various schools of thought as to what should be done to prepare craft cotton
fabric. The only safe way is to prepare it properly if it is going to be laundered later
on. This prevents disappointment afterwards.
Cotton fabric is capable of shrinking up to 5% during washing. Sometimes it will not move
as much but should there be two pieces side by side and one moves 5% and the other 2% then
the result will not look good.
The other problem to avoid is dye bleeding from the fabric. Some colours are far more
prone than others – red being a good example of this – and if it is wet next to
a pure white cotton, the result may be a nasty pink stain.
Fabrics should be washed with other like colours and, any losing dye, rinsed until the
water runs clear.
Spray starch and pressing with an iron will restore the crispness to laundered cotton for
easier cutting.
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