Today, I will share with you some sewing tips and tricks to avoid disasters and phrases like: "Help, my fabric shrank!" or "Help, I don't have enough fabric for my project!" 

I regularly receive questions from customers or students about washing, the amount of fabric to buy, etc. I thought a little summary article would prevent many disasters for both beginners and more experienced people.

Note that this article is intended for hobbyist sewists and that in the clothing industry and professional confection, other techniques may be used. 

So let's get started! 

What information is necessary before washing your fabric? 

The first question to ask when buying fabric is its composition.

Knowing the material of your coupon will allow you to know if you can machine wash it and if so, at what temperature or washing program. The best thing to do is to refer to the manufacturer's advice detailed on the product sheet.  

In our online store, you will find in the description of each product the type of composition and the manufacturer's care advice. 

Is it really useful to wash your fabric before sewing it?

Yes and three times yes! Let's look at the reasons together. 

The first and most important reason for this washing is the potential shrinkage of the fabric during the first wash. Indeed, natural fibers tend to tighten during the first wash. It is therefore important to wash your fabric or risk no longer fitting into the garment you carefully made... 

The second reason is to remove the finish that the manufacturer applied to the fabric to enhance it. This finish serves to stabilize the fabric, give it colors, shine... It is important to remove this layer of finish before working with the fabric. This will also allow you to assess its true drape; and if this is indeed the fluidity you want to give your garment/confection.  

The third reason is that your fabric may bleed, meaning it can fade. Indeed, the fibers are saturated with pigments that will dissolve in the washing water. Blue, black, and red fabrics are the most likely to bleed. Who has never had blue hands when handling a new pair of jeans? You can fix the color a bit more with this grandmother's trick: soak your coupon for about 1 hour in a bucket of cold water with 200ml of white vinegar (make sure to mix the water and vinegar well before immersing the fabric coupon). Once this bath is done, wash your fabric according to the recommendations. 

Finally, fourth reason, washing allows you to clean the fabric and remove dust, microorganisms,... that it may have encountered during manufacturing, transport, storage processes...

But if it shrinks... What information is useful to properly choose the length of your fabric?

Two cases arise here: either you work with a pattern from a pattern maker, or you create your own pattern from a tutorial, etc...

1. I buy a coupon

When you buy a coupon, the pattern maker will indicate a length based on your size for making the model.

Pattern makers take into account the shrinkage percentage of garments (with an average coefficient) and most often take a safety margin. That's how sometimes you end up with 20 or 30cm of unused fabric... Some of you might complain a bit about having scraps... but as for me, I prefer to reuse my scrap in another project than to run out of fabric to cut all my pieces... don't you?

2. I create my pattern

When you create a pattern from a tutorial, most of the time the person will give you ready-to-sew piece dimensions, meaning fabric already washed (sometimes seam allowances not included)... that's where the error happens the most... believe me 😊

Let's take an example, you want to make a baby blanket of 1m by 1m, you will need to take into account the shrinkage factor of the chosen material or your blanket will no longer be 1m but rather 90cm. 

Same for skirts, if you follow a tutorial that tells you to take a 60cm long rectangle, add at least 10cm when buying to be sure that once the fabric is washed you will have the requested rectangle; otherwise you risk ending up with a mini skirt! 

Knowing the average shrinkage factor is a prerequisite in this kind of adventure! 

Average shrinkage rate depending on fiber type

Each fiber has an average shrinkage rate depending on the quality of the weave, finishes... I tried to compile the average shrinkage rates based on fibers. 

General fabric shrinkage rate:
- Cotton (cretonne): 4% - 10%
- Cotton double gauze: 5% to 10%
- Synthetic fiber: 4% - 8%
- Cotton polyester blend: 3.5% - 5.5%
- Cotton poplin: 3% - 4.5%
- Cotton twill: 4%

If you had to remember just one number, take 10% shrinkage as a safety margin.

So, if you need 1m of fabric at the end and you choose a cotton cretonne, ideally you should take 10% more. That is 1.1m. 

Take out the calculator if needed --> 
[desired length] x ( 1 + shrinkage rate in percent ) = length to buy.
NB: don't forget the parentheses and the percent sign for the shrinkage rate!  

In our example above 
1m x ( 1 + 10%) = 1.1m

Once you have this information in mind, it's really easy to juggle the necessary lengths for your creations. Don't forget your haberdasher is also there to help you 😊. 

So all that's left is to get started! 

Get your needles ready!