Should i pre wash flannel

Hang your shirt to dry. Does flannel shrink in cold water? Before washing your flannel items the first time, keep in mind cotton flannel fabric products generally shrink a bit. Launder it in the lowest machine setting in cold water using very mild detergent. What kind of thread do you use for flannel? Regular all-purpose polyester thread works just fine for cotton flannel. Does flannel shrink in the dryer? Flannel does shrink, especially if it's a cotton flannel.

This is because cotton always shrinks. If you are looking to buy flannel clothing, always go bigger rather than smaller because of the shrinking factor. You will want to wash it in warm and preferably air dry it so that it doesn't shrink a lot. What can I do with flannel fabric? It's the best fabric to ensure you're not only cozy, but fashionable too. Easiest Flannel Infinity Scarf Tutorial. Comfy Flannel Blanket Scarf. Winter Warmers.

Double-Sided Blanket Scarf Pattern. Comfy Fall Cape Tutorial. Will flannel fray if cut with pinking shears? While pinking shears will reduce fraying, the shears will not completely prevent fraying. You may find that a pinked edge will begin to fray after several cycles through the washing machine.

Should you use fabric softener on flannel sheets? Avoid Fabric Softener Fabric softener leaves chemicals behind that stiffen fabric fibers and reduce flannel's softness over time. The buildup from the softener also increases the appearance of pills. Instead, put a few clean tennis balls in the dryer with your sheets. September 23, , AM. Re: Prewashing flannel In my opinion washing precuts would be a disaster but I do pre wash flannel yardage.

Not sure what would be best if flannel precuts and yardage are used in the same quilt. I have a flannel layer cake to use as well so I am interested in the responses here. Comment Post Cancel. Re: Prewashing flannel 1. This minimizes shrinkage after your quilt is made.

Never never never prewash precuts! They will fray like crazy and you will have strings and threads everywhere and a tangled mess when you take it out of the dryer!!! They will in the end not cause your completed quilt to shrink very much because they were not washed first. And if you don't believe me, wash and dry a couple JR strips and see what happens to them! September 23, , PM. Re: Prewashing flannel Ok, I don't wash the precut squares.

Should I not wash the yardage which will be the back so it will react the same to washing? Re: Prewashing flannel I would not wash it. What we do for others and the world, is and remains immortal. Re: Prewashing flannel Okay Stand by!. I just happen to have a flannel quilt that I recently finished. I bought flannel by the yard for the back and prewashed it and dried it in the dryer. The top was made out of Woolies flannel charm squares and sashing out of a flannel jelly roll.

No pieces for the top were prewashed. I will wash and dry it on Sunday and let you know how it comes out. Sylvia H. Re: Prewashing flannel I don't prewash flannel. I made a quilt using the Woolies jelly roll. The flannel backing was purchased at a LQS local quilt store. I washed after quilting, and the shrinkage was the same. I also used flannel as a backing to a quilt where the top was cotton. Again, no difference in the shrinkage after washing.

I have never bought what is considered "cheap" flannel. I understand it does shrink quite a bit. Any idea what I can do to make it look decent? The plaid should be woven on grain, so in theory, if you rip it rather than cut it, the design should get back on track. You may end up losing inches in the process, though. I bought flannel fat quarter bundles to make a simple quilt for my grandson. Should I prewash them and if so what is the best way to do that?

Hand wash? You will end up losing too much do to fraying and quilt patterns that require fat quarters may not work with the new shrunken piece of fabric. Ok so I recently took up quilting and started with flannel.

I am on my third baby quilt right now. The second have me a horrible time with gathering at the ends of the lines. I have only done stitch in the ditch so far but for this one I want to hand quilt it with a cute design. So, for my question can I hand quilt this flannel quilt without getting all the gathering and making it look cheap and crappy? Trust me this quilt is anything but cheap, to me anyways. Thank you in advance. Hand quilting or even tying a quilt can be a great way to avoid fabric pulling and gathering.

Sometimes machine quilting can cause that because of uneven pulling with the foot and feed dogs. Another way to avoid gathering when machine quilting is to baste your quilt sandwich really really well.

I plan to buy a high quality flannel layer cake to make a quilt. What can I do to prevent shrinking after the quilt is made to prevent future shrinking? Do you recommend pre-shrinking pre-cut layer cake flannel? Prewashing precuts is usually on my No-No list because of how much of the precut you can lose due to shrinking and fraying. However, if you are able to lose a couple inches from each precut, prewashing flannel is a good idea.

You could sew a loose basting stitch around the perimeter of each one to prevent some of the fraying. That will get tedious, though, so do that only if you have the time. Once your quilt is finished, wash on a gentle cycle using cold water and lay it flat on a bed of towels to dry. Heat from the washer and drying are going to be the culprits of major shrinking. I have made several flannel baby quilts, some prewashed…some not.

Adds a little love from Grandma. I also hate wonky corners so I trace a quarter circle in each corner when sewing the 3 layers together I birth my quilts instead of binding and I clip the round corners and when I turn them they are very smooth. Learning as I go, A couple years back I made a t shirt quilt for a grandson. The flannel that was holding the t shirts together is pulling apart.

It was a lot of work to do this quilt. Thanks for your input. I think at this point the best thing you can do is mend any areas that have fully pulled apart and then switch to hand washing the quilt rather than machine washing it.

Also wash it as infrequently as possible — once a year is not crazy. Suzy, I bought some flannel backing and tore it selvedge to selvedge, and the piece came out 6 inches wider one one edge than the other! What went wrong? Sounds like when it was cut from the bolt it was cut pretty severely off grain. Big box stories like fabric. So annoying. I am making it very plan with kantha stitching or pearl stitching and i am having the hardest time getting my needle in and out of the layers of fabric.

I see your dilemma. The issue with using flannel rather than batting is that flannel is made up of threads woven together — so the needle and thread need to push their way between those threads. If you stack two pieces of flannel together as the batting you are now making your needle push through four layers of fabric.

Does that make sense? Unfortunately, I think your options are to switch to a thinner, sharper needle and thinner thread probably a traditional quilting thread that is wax coated or to switch to just one layer of flannel or light batting. Hi, thank you for your tutorials and very helpful videos! On the flannel batting subject… I am making a baby quilt my first and used flannel for the top pieces as well as the batting and linen as the back.

And thanks in advance fur your thoughts! One reason batting works well when hand quilting is the thread knots get knotted into the fibers and made more secure over time. With flannel you would have that; however I think if you always double knot your thread and maybe even use a thinner thread, like 12 wt.

I have a mystery quilt that went terribly wrong. How far apart can I tie it? Thank you. Thanks for all the info…really helped. I have a BIG concern still re washing my rag quilt and getting the drain clogged up. Any feedback would be appreciated. You could try using a washing machine bag to keep those extra threads confined. I made a t-shirt quilt with flannel sashing, borders, and backing. Being a newbie, can you tell me whether to cut the binding strips selvage-to-selvage or parallel to the selvage?

Thank you for your help. I suggest cutting them selvage to selvage. Fold the fabric in half, lining up the selvages, lay the fabric on your cutting mat and cut that way. I just bought four 1-yard pieces of flannel at a high quality fabric store. I have made several quilts and considering myself an advanced quilter. Can you recommend a pattern that works well with flannel? Something to show off the plaid, and in larger pieces?

I think the new Reflections pattern would be perfect in flannel! Do I need to add more quilting? The flannel was prewashed, several times. Because you are using flannel instead of batting, you do not run the risk of batting bunching, shifting or collecting in lumps underneath your quilt sandwich. The flannel layer does not need as much stabilizing as a layer of batting, so what you have quilted is enough.

I am making my daughter a baby blanket for my newest grandson arriving in October. I am using a flannel panel with Luxe Cuddle Minky.

In the above post you mentioned that you do not recommend starching one fabric and not the other. Can minky even be starched? I am new to sewing anything let alone quilting and blanket making! Anyway I would like to starch the flannel as I know that it stretches, but what do I do with the minky?

Thanks in advance for any advice! Hmmm…good question. In this scenario, I think you could hold off on the starch and still be OK. I know this is a pretty basic question but want to get it right! I wish I would have read this post before I started on my flannel quilt.

I also had cutting challenges because the fabric likes to move while the rotary cutter is rolling along; that was very frustrating and sometimes left a ruffled cut. Fortunately, I did think to prewash in very hot water to get the bleeding and shrinking out of the way.

To add to the overall problem, this is my first quilt! The prints from the box store seemed to be better, though, for some reason. Thanks for your post! Do you have any suggestions for how I can machine quilt this? It could be a thread issue. Poly thread can sometimes cut through flannel and cause tension issues. If you post this question to the Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group , along with the make and model of your sewing machine, others will have great suggestions for you.

Will keep all this in mind when trading the quilts. I particularly like your suggestion with flannel. Should the binding strips be cut wider when working with flannel?

Just wondering if it is necessary to do wider binding strips because of fraying, etc. Used a lot of your suggestions of working with flannel and think it helped!! Yes, cut your binding strips wider too. Dear Suzy! What a helpfull blog! But: it is flannel… For the background I have Bella solids cotton. Thanks for your help and best regards from Hamburg!

It was the wild wild west of sewing because in fact it was the wild wild west! Yes, you can sew flannel to quilting cotton. I would recommend prewashing, though. So, to prevent all kinds of crazy fraying in the wash, sew a zig-zag stitch around the perimeter of each FQ before washing.

I would like to thank you for your great tips for my Bonnie and Camille Flannel Quilt! Today I sewed the first block and it turned out great. Again a thousand thanks and best regards from Hamburg from Julia happy. Done is better than perfect, right? This is a great idea! Forgive me if you have answered this question in the post above. If you are using regular quilting cotton, 2.

Just make sure your seam allowance is wider when sewing your binding strips to the quilt so that when you fold the binding over it is the same size on both sides. Have you ever mixed wool with flannel and noticed bearding? Or is flannel more likely to beard in general? Thanks for any advice! The same goes with flannel. If you use cheap flannel, it may pill after a while.

Pilling is easier to deal with than bearding, though, because with pilling you can actually get one of those sweater razors and literally shave your fabric. It works well too! Bearding happens when fibers from your batting migrate to the outer fabric through its weave. That can be hard to fix. I suggest that you spend the extra money on high quality materials and then enjoy your finished cozy warm quilt! I also though about putting interfacing along the entire back of the pieced side of the quilt once it has been put together to help it all stay well.

Just curious if using interfacing in any way could help the quilt become more uniform and wear out less. If so, do you recommend a lightweight or medium weight interfacing? I am about to start my first flannel quilt and am ready to pre wash the fabric. If I stitch along the edge of the cut line, will that help more with the fraying? I was thinking of doing a overcast stitch.

Your information about handling and sewing with flannel are very interesting. Thank you so much. I have stored a lot of different flannels and wool fabric I will use together.

But I hate to prewash my fabrics. The shrinking is a big problem. Later I measure and see the differences. I know which fabric shrunks the most. I can start to sew without starch because the new fabrics are easier to sew. I pieced a flannel quilt top without prewashing because it was precut squares. I also did not prewash the backing. Before I sandwich it with the batting, should I prewash the top and backing? I am planning on hand quilting it with purl cotton and big stitches….

Once you have the quilt completed and bound, wash it in cold water on a gentle cycle. If possible, tumble dry or let it air dry. As much as you can, keep it away from hot water and heat drying. Thanks for your blog Suzy. Learnt so much here while my porridge is cooking! I am about to make a doggy coat and I wondered which side of the flannellete was up and after reading about cheap flannel and its tendency to pill and spill onto your machine, I think I will make it upside down and have the fluffy bit on the inside… as I just want the plaid look and a little bit of Spring warmth for my dog — hence it will be a 2 ply with lining and not a 3 ply with wadding.

So thanks heaps for your tips. I will look out a new needle, use a longer stitch and sew wider seams. Thanks again. My question is what is the best fabric to back it with? More flannel? He is always really cold even though we live in Florida so I want it to be plenty warm. Also should I include batting to help with the warmth? Use more cozy flannel for the backing and most definitely use batting. If you want it to be extra extra warm, try wool! LOVE your sense of humor!! Definitely a woman after my own heart!

Will be using a beautiful dusky rose flannel to back a nap quilt for my bestie. Am hesitant to use a ton of starch on the flannel. In your experience does the starch come out of the fabric once the finished quilt is washed? What temperature would the finished quilt be washed at? Many thanks! Thank you, Dorothy! Starch will wash out of the fabric completely once you are fully finished and send the quilt through the washing machine.

I recommend washing finished quilts in cold water on a gentle cycle. Hi Suzy! I am also so pleasantly surprised with your blog.

I am very much a beginner quilter and whenever I have a question, your blog is the first place I look! I am about to begin a flannel quilt — top and backing both flannel. I ordered a FQ bundle that I love! Woolies Flannel by Bonnie Sullivan. Will flannel shrink enough that I might be short fabric?

Finally, do you have a recommended batting for flannel quilts? I was so drawn to wool after reading your blog this quilt will be a gift for a family member , but perhaps there is a better option when the shrinkage is considered? What would Suzy Quilts do? Thanks in advance!! Thanks, Mallory! Flannel FQs are tricky, because yes, flannel does shrink a lot, and yes, flannel can fray a lot, so typically I would say that you need to prewash your flannels.

Hopefully the pattern allows for that. Also, only wash your quilt in cold water. HI, Suzy. Thanks for all of this great information. Do you think this will be problematic?

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks so much. Hi Suzy, Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Are there some patterns that should be avoided when using flannel? I would love to make a Hunters star, but it will mean a lot of sewing on bias edges. Wondering if I should re-think the pattern…. Flannel does best when used as large pieces.

My favorite way to use flannel is as quilt backing! Thank you for this! I just backed a cotton quilt with flannel and realized to my dismay that the pattern was upside down. So…I am off to buy cotton backing fabric. Anyone need a massive flannel back? I think this is the equivalent of going to the washroom after the appetizer course and sneaking out a window. The front is 9 squares of 9? Basically 81 4. Do I make long stitches across and diagonal?

Help me please? Lol Thank you in advance for your time and consideration on my dilemma. Yes, to keep your layers together you will need to add some quilting. You can do this through simple quilt ties, machine quilting or hand quilting. I have tutorials on all three if you do a search on the blog.

I made two baby bibs out of quiting cotton and flannel. I never worked with flannel. Something told me to look up flannel fabric. I almost had a heart attack that I did not pre-treat the flannel. Thank goodness the ones I made are only samples!

Last night, I pre-washed and dried all the flannel I had. I would not want to have anyone disappointed with their gifts! Thank you so much for posting this important information. I pieced the squares together by hand. I used flannel for the backing and low-loft polyester batting. I am hand-quilting the blanket. Would 20wt quilting thread be appropriate, or should I go thicker?

And what length stitch would you recommend? What type of thread is best for top stitching a flannel quilt both front and back? When choosing the color of the thread, if you have three main colors, which works best? A light neutral gray or one of the bolder colors?

Thanks for a great collection of tips! My rule of thumb with thread is to pair natural fibers with natural fibers. See The Difference Between Cotton and Poly Thread Since your flannel is made from a natural fiber, cotton thread or a poly blend would be best. I also highly suggest not using really dark thread like black on light fabric.