Fabrics

All about fabrics

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Testing Fabric for Shrinking and Colorfastness

Testing fabric for shrinking and color fastness

Something every person that sews need to know is how to test fabric for shrinking and color fastness. Yes, you do actually need to test because it would be a huge shame if you have made your garment and spent hours on it, only to wash it and then it doesn’t fit anymore.

In this article I will show you how to test fabric for shrinking and colorfastness.

The testing process of the fabric is actually quite easy. Not only can you do it at home, but it can be done in five minutes. All you need is an ironing board, your new fabric and a hot iron.

Testing the fabric for shrinking and colorfastness has never been easier. Take a little corner of the fabric and iron it under the hot iron. What happens? Does it stay the same? Does it shrink? This is how you know if the fabric has actually undergone some shrinking or if it’s ok to just start sewing.

Testing fabric for colorfastness is a different story all together. You simply put it in hot water in the basin and see if it gives off color. If the water is colored when you squeeze it out, it is most definitely not colorfast and will probably give off lots of color in the machine, staining your other clothes. You can test this on new clothes too and it will work.

I hope this article on testing fabric for shrinking and colorfastness has been useful. Remember to always do these checks before you even consider starting a sewing project so that you know if you need to prepare the fabric or not.

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How to prepare fabric for sewing

How to prepare fabric for sewing

Many people think that once they can sew, that they can just go ahead and make something. But few realize that there is a process involved in getting ready to sew. How to prepare the fabric for sewing is often a snag that many people overlook.

That’s right. You cannot just go ahead and lay out the fabric. The last thing you want to do is go through all that effort to make something only to have it shrink or loose color in the wash. It needs to be tested for color fastness as well as shrinking. So how do you actually prepare the fabric for sewing?

The first thing you need to do is give the fabric a wash. This will not only clean the fabric but also test the color fastness of the fabric. Yes, it does take the smell of the newness of the garment away, but it does eliminate the fabric shrinking and coloring all your other clothes in the wash.

The next thing you need to know about how to prepare the fabric for sewing is to give it an ironing or drying in the machine. The ironing of the fabric will make sure that if it was going to shrink further as will the drying in the machine. I recommend drying it in the dryer.

Once the fabric is dried and has been ironed, you can now fold the fabric in two with the outside inside, length wise.

I hope this has been helpful in teaching you how to prepare fabric for sewing. It’s not always easy when you start out with a project and it’s your first project.

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Fabric Stores – Finding the right one

Fabric Stores

There are so many fabric stores out there. Even Wallmart sells fabrics. But did you know that different fabric stores sell different things? For example, you won’t find Viscose or Voil at Wallmart. You might be lucky enough to find Polyester Cotton or Flannel but that’s about as far as it goes.

When it comes to looking for fabric stores where you can find what you need, you first need to determine what type of item you are going to make. For this item, what kind of fabric are you going to need? What kind of accessories are you going to need? Do you need iron on’s to go on it? Do you want to make curtains? Do you need curtaining tape or rings?

All these things and many more is exactly what you need to determine before you start your search for fabric stores in your area. There are many to choose from. Online fabric stores allow you to order your fabrics from the comfort of your home and other walk in fabric stores will have assistants where you can ask them to help you and show you the fabrics you want to purchase.

My downfall is that when I’m in a fabric store I always walk out with more than I budgeted for. I can get lost between the isles with fabrics and sewing add ons, patterns, buttons and other items they have for sale. It is important to know what you want before you walk into a fabric store, especially if you are on a tight budget.

My idea of a perfect fabric store is one that has isles and isles of many fabrics to choose from. After all, I do not want to get to the store only to discover there is a very limited choice of fabrics to choose from. It needs to have a great variety of fabrics – different kinds!

A good fabric store will also have fabrics at lower prices than your general stores or smaller fabric stores. They may even have off cuts which you can get at discounted prices – and if you’re lucky enough, big enough for you to make what you need to make.

The perfect fabric store will not only sell fabrics but also have other things in the store such as sewing accessories, sewing patterns, wool, knitting needles and sometimes even sewing machines. At the very least they sould have a place where you can buy sewing machine accessories and get advice on how to service your sewing machine and buy sewing machine oil.

I hope this helps. When you do a Google search for fabric stores, many will come up. Take your time to find one that is relatively large so that you know you will be able to get what you’re looking for in a fabric store.