Sewing with Knits My Way, Part 2

It seems I really "got into" sewing knit garments several years ago. I have learned much along the way, and I'm sharing some tips here.

Part one was posted here

2. My second tip is to always pre-wash fabrics before use, especially when I'm making clothing. I wash and dry the fabric the way it will be washed after wearing the made garment. The main reason I do this is that I don't know who has touched and dirtied the fabric. Another reason is that I want to remove any chemicals which may have been included in creating that fabric.

I use unscented liquid laundry detergent in the washing machine, and I use white vinegar in the rinse instead of fabric softener.

Extra tip: if you plan to use fabric paint, it will not stay on very long if there is a fabric softener in the fabric. That's because fabric softener usually leaves a waxy coating; the paint will stick to the coating, but the coating will wash out and the paint will eventually peel away from the fabric. This is touched upon in my tutorial for fleece socks (see the menu above).

Most of my knit fabrics tend to be created with man-made fibers, aka, not natural fibers. Some polyester fabrics can be dried on a low heat setting for short periods of time. I prefer to hang most fabrics of man-made fibers to dry. That's not a problem for me because I have a drying rack inside my sewing room. My rack only holds just under two yards of fabric with the selvages folded together. I think I have hung longer lengths by folding again from one selvage to the other and letting the fabric hang to dry for a longer time.

I personally do not concern myself with fabric stretching out when I hang it to dry. The fabric shown was bought on Amazon but is no longer available.

Perhaps the fabric relaxes when I lay it on my huge cutting table.

When I use any fabric with a cotton fiber content, I dry it in the dryer. I wash and dry fabric three times if it has any cotton in it because cotton loves to shrink. Yes, cotton loves to shrink progressively, but after three washer and dryer cycles, the shrinking pretty much stops.

People who claim that they never prewash their fabric are more likely to be quilters, as many quilters believe that letting the fabric shrink after a quilt is made will give it character. I believe this type of “character” (shrinkage) should not happen to any clothes I make.

I hope you find these tips helpful.