patchwork

Wow.  Have any of you ever pre-washed your fabric before beginning a sewing project?  I clearly had not - until Sunday.  And let me tell you, it went horribly, horribly awry.  Turns out I have a friend who knows about 30 tricks to make this process easier, but I didn't know any of them at the time. 

I took a nice, long solo trip to Joanne Fabrics earlier that day to choose fabric for two new sewing ventures.  One, of course, is the ballet-themed messenger bag I'm constructing for the winner of my contest.  The other is a floor-length patchwork skirt for my stepdaughter, Chloe.  I'm still developing the concept for the ballet bag, so I selected 4 different fabrics I think I'll use.  For Chloe's skirt I needed a big array of fun, lively fabrics that would work well together.  Here's what I came up with:

Once I got home, I tossed all of the washable fabrics into the washer.  I don't normally pre-wash, but I did so in this case so that both items will be washable without the risk of color bleed or weird shrinking.

To my aggravated dismay, when I pulled the yardage from the washer, it was one big tangled, unravelling mess.  I spent at least 20 minutes unknotting twisted balls of fabric and snipping long, loose threads with scissors.  Lesson learned.

In the future I may try (1) cutting the edges of all pieces with pinking shears rather than straight blade shears, (2) tucking the fabric inside a pillowcase before washing, (3) enjoying a cocktail before opening the washer [after December, of course].

Once I iron the heck out of the wrinkly bits, I'll be on my way.