[Artemisia] Fabric question

[HL Isabeau de Sevingy]

Lady Mia has given some wise advice here. May I supplement?
 
Whether fabric is washable or not is very much up to fiber content. Different fibers and different blends can have drastically different reactions to washing. 
 
If you email me off list, I can walk you through a series of identification methods and be able to give you an educated recommendation as to how to proceed.
 
HL Isabeau de Sevingy
PS. If I can find transportation from Gryphon's Lair up to Twae Linnes for the April 3rd Spring Fest event, I'll be teaching my Fabrics 101 class! *hint* *hint* to anyone living down here or in Loch Salann... *grin*


Mia <aravis at softcom.net> wrote:
We have a fabric store here in Loch Salann that has awesome fabrics at 
great prices, but almost never has any washing instructions or fabric 
content. I almost always put a chunk of it through the whole cycle of 
washing and drying before I do the whole piece. I always put the fabric 
through the dryer before I sew it, but hang everything to dry after it's 
garb. I also wash any fabric in at least one step hotter water in my 
washer than I will after it's clothing. I'm paranoid, so I wash 
everything in cold after it's clothing, but wash it in hot before. That 
way, you get as much shrinking as is possible done before it's 
clothing. If you're working with 100% cotton or linen (or even mostly 
cotton or linen), I would wash it 2-3 times in hot water before sewing 
it. I have a linen dress that shrunk about 2 inches after being washed 
at least 3 times before.

I always err on the side of caution, I'd rather it took 2 days to dry my 
dress (and some of the heavier, lined pieces can take that long in the 
middle of winter) than have it shrink and be ruined. Just make sure you 
leave enough time for it to be dried, because wearing 2-3 layers of 
slightly damp clothing is really uncomfortable on a cold day. :-)

I tried that hope and pray the wearer doesn't sweat too much thing for 
my dress this Solstice. I was clearing head table after feast and 
managed to spill this nifty little chocolate fondue holder full of hot 
melted chocolate down one entire side of the dress. So, I don't 
recommend that method of fabric care. :-) However, the dress is doing 
fine, and after some intensive group therapy, can be worn again. ;-)

Lady Mia

> Jeanine wrote:
>
>> Greetings to the list;
>>
>> I have a question for anyone - How do you tell if a fabric is 
>> washable? Snip off a section and dip it in hot water? hope and pray 
>> that the wearer doesn't sweat too much? Help? ;o)
>>
>> Thank you very much!!
>>
>> Ja'mala
>>
>
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>


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