✂️ To learn more about all this assumed knowledge of sewing (and more!), I'd love to have you in class at Vintage Sewing School www.vintagesewingschool.com/

I pre-wash my fabric on the highest and harshest setting it can handle. Particularly with cotton and linen -- I want to get the shrinkage out of the way.

Finishing the edges. This is another "why didn't I think of that?" moment. I had resorted to washing by hand to avoid the fraying in the washer. Thank you, Evelyn!

Quilters tip! Make a mobius strip ,Yards of fabric sew the ends together with one twist. Helps to Keeps the fabric from balling up in the washer and dryer.

I used to work at a craft store and from that experience I can tell you with 100% confidence that your fabric is DIRTY when you buy it. It may not look dirty, but so many people have touched it, I’ve even seen people eating food like French fries while looking at fabric, and fabric bolts get knocked onto the floor all of the time. Kids would also basically rub themselves against the fake fur since it’s so soft, which I understand, but also kids always seem to be dirty or sticky or snotty which you don’t want on your fabrics. So wash your fabrics well, and with the coronavirus pandemic maybe throw some laundry sanitizer in while you’re at it.

I learned about pre-washing the hard way. I was 14, and making my second dress, so of course I thought I knew everything! The dress was just snug enough after washing that it always reminded me to stand up straight. Then I had to complicate matters by using a hot iron and melting the nylon zipper halfway down. Getting into that garment on Sunday mornings was a struggle, but I loved my yellow dress!😄

As a beginner sewer, this information is very valuable. I was hoping that pre washing was kinda optional, as, once I got my fabric back from the store, I was eager to start sewing. But I've watched your wonderful video and read lots of the comments, and now I know for sure that preparing your fabric before you sew is essential. Thank you Evelyn and everyone who's shared their experience.

One of our sewing mavens here in the USA swears by pressing linen on the hottest setting BEFORE you wash it. She says it sets the finish on the linen so it will be far less wrinkly for the life of your garment.

The only tips I would add (I apologize if it was mentioned but I missed it) is 1) to face the wrong or non-fashion side up when line drying to avoid uneven fading/streaking caused by UV rays and 2) bring it in to iron just before it is completely dry in order to avoid bird droppings and limit dust.

I will soak linen in my bathtub for at least 4 hours to rehydrate it. it washes and wears better and the fibers are more stable if you do this. then wash and dry as you will the garment. linen as a fiber is dried out during the spinning and weaving process . cotton is very much a wash and go fiber. silk need to be washed with a hair product as detergents do not have enough fat or oil in them to prtect the fiber. wool is and animal by product so it need to be washed with hair product also. this where lanolin comes from so wool likes oil based soap. if you have lye soap it is great for wool. NOT all fibers can be washed with laundry soaps. thanks for letting me rant information.

I laughed at you in your hat, sunnies, and long sleeves. I live on the Gold Coast and that’s how I hang out my washing too. I also have the frog! Thank you for the video.

Mum taught me to add salt to the water if you were having trouble with material that would continually colour run. Works a treat, especially fabrics that you have home dyed

I'd love to see a video about garment care!!!!

Not sure if new comments are read but just wanted to say, I love your red dress you have on, it’s beautiful and super flattering on you.

Evelyn, how precious you are for sharing your channel. We appreciate this.

Thank you for your videos! Although i never do regular laundry this way, I always prewash in hot and tumble dry on hot. That way i get the harshest possible laundering out of the way and i never have to worry again about how something is washed later. Another reason i prewash and dry in hot is that I make a lot of baby quilts as gifts, and i don’t know how the quilt will be laundered. I always tell my quilt recipients to use it and wash it and love it till it falls apart. Baby the baby, not the quilt. 😀

I thrift much of my fabric and prewashing is a must for me. Mostly because I'm very allergic to the type of dust mites that like to settle in stuff that lays untouched in closets for long periods of time, haha!

Yes please! Garment care would be a wonderful video!

We learned in school, how to wash and prewash and I have been doing it that way ever since. . To stop shrinking soak the fabric for a while in cold water before washing it. . To stop color from leaking put about 1 cup of vinegar into the cold water you soak it in. . And to be sure I have stopped the color from leaking, I also put vinegar into the washer instead of any softeners. .. and I’ve found out to put the fabric into a washing net, then the ends frey out less and the fabric gets less distorted. The net should be just big enough to put the folded fabric into easily and and leaves only a little room for the fabric to move. With these tips I have very little trouble with washing new fabric.

Thanks for the tips. I love to dry my wash outside. Nothing smells better than fresh sundried sheets. Thanks again for the reminder that spring is coming and the line is wanting.

I like to use color grabbing sheets. I don't know how they work, but they are surprisingly useful!

Evelyn, I use my overlocker/serger to finish the edges but I sew the two ends together as it helps keep the length from becoming a twisted mess in the dryer.

When I’m pre washing a lot of yardage I sew the ends together with a twist in the middle of it making it a Möbius strip. Then I run it through the washer and dryer. It doesn’t twist up or knot up when I do that. I usually use between eight and ten yards in a garment.

When I started sewing, I lived in a rather tropical climate, so there were mostly natural fibers. I learned to always wash those fibers before moving forward. It saved a lot of projects 😊

You can sew the fabric into a mobius strip if your fabric is super long to avoid it getting super tangled. A mobius strip is essentially a circle with a single twist in it.

I always dry with the wrong side to the sun, and I like drying garments inside-out too if they're in the sun. I have this idea that the colours won't fade as fast. I have no idea if it really makes a difference but it's what I learned for washing woollies (re knitting and crochet hobby) so it just carried on over to sewing! :-)

Learned a lot today, thank you Evelyn! Greetings from Sweden

This seemed like such a silly question but I'm happy to find this video about pre washing fabric. I didn't know how to prep fabric correctly for the wash. Thanks so much for the helpful video.

If you go to the hardware store or building shop you can buy foam isolation covers for pipes. They are cilinders, hollow with an opening on the side. I did put them over the washing lines. That keeps the kinks away.

The selvedges protect those edges, so I just trim a half-inch triangle at all four corners. That stops most of the raveling on most fabrics. I like the way you finish the edges better, and I might try it, but up til now, I’ve just clipped the corners. Great info on how to prewash, and I’m always glad to find another fan of air-drying. I love that semi-stiff feel of air-dried and especially sun-dried fabric. Plus what if we dried all towels and bed linens outdoors? It can be a personal commitment to reversing a bit of climate change. We can make a difference.

Great reminder video!! Growing up we would prewash all our fabrics ( mainly cotton in those days) for our garments. Now that I'm learning to quilt, I have been told it is sacrilege to pre-wash fabric. Since I am learning to make quilts that people actually will use on a daily basis ( and not competition level), I will continue to prewash fabric and enjoy the process of sewing!! I love your videos, Evelyn!!

Great video❤️ boy have I paid the price for forgetting to prewash a red Jersey 😭 Also... I like sewing the cotton lycra Jersey fabrics right sides together with a gathering stitch before washing to prevent rolling. After drying I just pull out the bobbin thread and voilà - no rolling 🙂

That is a darling dress. Your words of advice are gold.

Love what you are wearing. You are such an inspiration to me. Hugs from Johannesburg south Africa

This is great information. I have seen so many people on utube who don't prewash. Another thing I've noticed is how they straighten their material. I have seen only one person do this correctly.

Finished edges 💡I have preshrunk fabric for decades and wish I’d known about this years ago. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and knowledge. I love your videos.

Great video! When I first started sewing I was sewing for babies including the fitted cloth diapers. I think I washed the diaper material 3 times in hot water and hot dry. I was so worried about shrinking! Then for everything else once in hot. After a while I realized that none of my regular laundry was done in hot so why was I prewashing in hot. Now I’m much more layed back about it. Through with my mask making blitz I did do a hot wash and dry. As the masks were gifts for friends and family I wanted to make sure they would survive almost anything done. I’ve also taken to carrying a few new ones in the car to give to elderly people who are reusing disposable masks!! After I found out that my parents were! And yes I know that they are now saying that the disposable ones are better than cloth but I actually talked to an elderly woman who’s mask looked like it had been rolling around the bottom of her purse for a month!! So I think the cloth is better than that, at least it can be washed!

I'm not able to afford the nice fabric so I get cheaper fabrics. I will buy 1/4 of a yard extra, wash it, then cut the ends straight on the grain at the edges. I get my hubby to pull on one corner and I pull diagonally on the other corner to straighten the grain on the whole fabric. I used to dye fabric a lot too. I've found calsoline oil in the prewash gets rid of all sizing and machine oils. This makes the dye take evenly.

Thank you for all these tips! Side-note your dress is beautiful!

I'm looking forward to the video about how to fix distorted grain lines.

I wish someone had told me about pre-washing when I first started sewing because I had to learn the hard way.

When I prewash stretchy fabric, I place a bed sheet over several rungs of the clothesline and place the stretch fabric on top to dry. If not drying well, I'll switch out to a bed sheet with a dry one, put the stretch fabric back on top, and let finish drying. The bed sheet helps absorb some of the moisture and helps keep the keep the fabric from stretching out of shape. I've also been known to wrap around a pillow, put a pillow case on top, close the end of the pillowcase, and throw in the dryer.

you should do a follow up video on which fabrics you can and can't throw into the washing machine to pre-wash... ie- silk vs cotton vs wool vs linen... etc...

Good hanging to dry tips, look like shower curtains! I had a old fashion clothesline I used for many years, but half A tree fell on it in a storm, noe I have to replace it! BuT I found I was drying them the wrong way, I didn't know there was a wrong way!

To help prevent color runs in anything you wash -- When you wash your fabric put in 1 cup of white vinegar with your rinse cycle (I have a HE machine so I add it to the fabric softener tray) Also very good if your fabric/clothing is smelly or musty, the vinegar smell dissipates pretty quickly. I have reliably gotten gasoline smell out of shop towels in the wash this way! I would love to hear more washing and care tips for clothing and fabric if you've got them Evelyn - Love your channel!

I made the mistake of not pre washing some curtain fabric. Made beautiuful curtains and was so proud, until they had to be washed and shrunk both in length and width. UHG! Thankfully I had saved the extra hem so just had to pick out seams and then have a much smaller hem. Have to get into this habit . Especially now with fabrics seeming to be cheaper made than ever before. Thank you for another wonderful video. Love your beautiful and enthusiastic smile. You are so encouraging and that makes a difference for all of us.

You must love us, Evelyn, since for our sakes you risked a fabric hairball on that unfinished edge! In addition to your tricks I have used the multi-line drape with fabric pooled between the lines. Less weight per bend to support plus it can help handle longer lengths.

For smaller pieces, I handwash and use my "fabric dedicated" large salad spinner to "wring out" my fabric!

You mentioned that you will discuss how to pre-wash really large quantities of fabric. I have 15m (16.4 yards) of Peachskin that I need to wash and don't want to cut before I do. Apart from the regular tips on fraying, etc., anything else you can add to make it easier will be appreciated. Thanks

I loved this video!! I think much of what I learned about sewing when I was younger was from Vogue designer patterns that included the designers preferred method of construction. Often, that included hand-sewing. I took apart many worn-out vintage garments to learn how they were put together. It just made so much sense. (Most of those very worn garments became vintage looking clothes for my hand made teddy bears. I also spent a great deal of time make new fabric look old. Go figure.) I repurposed many beautiful, but very worn out coats from the 50s and 60s to make teddy bears. Along the way, I was amazed at how those coats were put together. It was like going to a special school for vintage techniques. I loved what I learned. I think that is why I enjoy watching your beautiful videos so much. I also love watching the learning materials of Vintage Sewing School. ❤

I have been doing this for years. I learnt the hard way when a garment I made came out 2 sizes smaller after washing. Since it was a complicated pattern I was not impressed. On a related note, I always buy at least h 1/3 a metre (yard) of fabric. This allows for shrinkage and gives me a little extra room for mistakes or testing techniques.

Haven’t thought about overseeing the raw edges to stop it fraying, that’s a good idea, thanks. I got caught out once by not pre washing, and the garment shrank so much it was tooooooo small!

so ecited for next weeks video! all your information is so fundamental to good quality work thank you

Amazing. These videos keep me company while I'm practicing my very beginner-level sewing skills and I am absorbing it all! You have already saved me so many hassles with tips like 1. Fabric sheers not for paper, 2. Pre-wash fabric, 3. Iron as you sew, 4. Make a toile & 5. Needing different needles for different fabrics. Sew nice that these tips are already there when you need them :)

After 2 very busy sewing days, I get to watch you work with my heating pad on my shoulders and back. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. Thank you for your talent, inspiration and posting this video!

Great tips! I’m so glad you address this and other basic and important topics. I try to avoid dry cleaning, so most of my thrifted clothing gets the home laundry treatment too.

To wash or not to wash is a rather polarizing issue in quilting, too. But for me, if I am donating the quilt, I do not know how it will be cared for...most people are going to be mechanically washing and drying. For clothing, I absolutely agree that you should prep your fabric in the manner that you will be caring for it as a garment! Great video! Thank you, Evelyn❤❤

In the US we have sheets called color guard, I wash ALL colors together and it has worked for several years now… !

Just wanted to leave a comment and let you know how incredibly helpful all of your videos have been to me over the last two years. I’ve been able to make historical dresses and costumes with the help of your videos and tips! Thank you so so much!

Ive never thought to finish the edges! Good idea. Not wanting to be wasteful, after machine washing I pull off the raveled threads and use them for stuffing puncushions, etc. Couldn't help feeling that women would've done this at a time when nothing was wasted.

Love your channel and a new subscriber. So helpful and a huge thank you. Cheers from BC Canada 🇨🇦

So helpful. I love the detail you go into to cover those topics that us beginners wonder about, that no one else seems to think needs addressing!

I love your look. I love your information. I was thrilled to see you line dry. My dryer died 15 years ago and I decided to see if I could go without it. I could. If I’m selling something I made, I give the customer washing/drying instructions the same as what I did when I pre-washed. Thanks for a great video on a simple but important subject.

Hi Evelyn. My mom taught me to rinse a finished cross-stitch work in a diluted white vinegar solution, to set the color. That advice carries over to new clothing well. I noticed there is a RIT brand product for setting color, too, which I have not yet tried. So, preventing color run can be as simple as adding vinegar to the pre-wash step. Happy sewing :)

I'm going to wash some fabric tomorrow. I'm going to make my first project in the next few days. I'm going to make some short and short sleeve pajamas. They will be purple. I'm both happy and nervous to make my first project and I don't want to mess up when I know I will.

For some reason that was fun watching you wash your laundry. That blue and white floral fabric is a beauty can’t wait to see what it becomes.

Pamela W-- Put a tag on your fabric with a pin. Just a W vs NW. I also put amount of yardage on tag. Saves much hair pulling :)))

I have had difficulty with cheaper fabrics - they distort badly. So I also look forward to your next video to help me sort that out. Many thanks.

I add liquid starch to the final rinse and air dry(or iron dry) to get the fabric crisp. Definitely makes sewing linen, and any other wiggly fabric) easier to work with.

I just whip stitch the raw edges together with the fabric's own weft threads. With a knot on one end and a roundabout on the other. Super fast, plus, pulling the weft threads to sew it together with makes squaring the ends super easy and tells me a lot about the fabric itself. I actually use warp thread to sew with - it being the stronger of the two - but the weft thread can be exceptionally weak. Some - even of quite expensive fabrics - seeming to be spun of nothing but lint, which is absolutely infuriating but something I certainly need to know before I use a fabric. Easy enough to ascertain in person at a brick and mortar establishment but not online.

Very useful information. Thank you!

I also wash on harshest settings, after sorting but I always add a dye absorbent sheet to the load, or 1/2 sheet if a small load.

I actually wash my garment on the harshest setting someone else in my family (or me on a bad day) might subject it to. So fabrics I wouldn't tumble dry I still toss in the dryer. Fabrics I plan to wash on delicate gets tossed on whatever my mom or dad thinks is a normal wash. I learned this when my dad washed my first skirt with a random load of clothes. It was never the same.

Yes, please i would love more about laundry

I always iron my new fabric after I have pre-washed it. Simply as it takes up less space if pressed before it goes in the cupboard, if I'm not using it straight away.

Love your videos. I do pre-wash. I use a laundry soap with a nice smell so I know I have pre-washed it and since I am going to store it until I get to it, I iron if needed and carefully fold and put away. And, I usually put the pattern selection with it.

Great tips, thankyou. Don't forget how clean and fresh the fabric smells after hanging in a nice, warm, sun kissed breeze. Was that a frog? 😮 I thought it might have been a neighbour's dog barking! 😄

For knits fabric, I wash at least three times with regular load of laundry to check for pilling. I learned the hard way spending hours sewing up knits just for it to pill each time I washed. (Stay away from Jo-Ann's knit fabrics.)

Thank you for those tips Evelyn.

Well here in the UK, especially in the winter. I pre-wash outside on the line, then bring in; having removed any twigs or branches, then tumble dry. A strong iron with a bit of spit and your ready to go. But to be serious thanks for all your tips and help in getting my skills to develop and giving me the confidence to try more trickier projects.

Hope all is well. Thx for another awesome vid Evelyn

There are preservatives in the fabric that I don't want to wash out to soon (if I am going to store the fabric). I prewash just before I begin making my project. If the preservatives are left in the fabrics, they can make me sick when I cut and sew the fabrics (I will be breathing the dust).

I would very much love a video on garment care, especially vintage garments. I have some vintage pieces that I've either inherited or bought and I want to make sure that I preserve them the best I can.

i was litterally just wondering how the hell i'm supposed to wash 4 meters of fabric haha, perfect timing!

beautiful video! perfect timing, as i am ordering bulk order of fabric for my boutique orders and am researching how to prepare! 👏 👏 💕

Honestly wish I’d seen this before I’d got the canvas I bought washed..the fraying was interesting

I'm excited to learn how to correct distorted grain! Maybe I won't have so much trouble in the future now that I know the tips you showed today, but I struggle with long cuts becoming distorted no matter how careful I try to be.

Thank you this was useful.

This was so useful ...particularly the tip about finishing the edges BEFORE you wash ...( why didn’t I think of that lol) I just loved your “ putting out my washing outfit “ great ..!!!

I often go through the added trouble of starching. It makes using the fabric so much easier.

I try to watch in huge batches so that way when I go to use the fabric it's already washed. I no longer have the luxury of a washer and dryer in my house so I try to wash as much fabric in one fell swoop even though it gets tangled and wrinkly lol

thanks for tips on how to pre-wash. Even though I have sewn for years, I learned new tricks. Especially about finishing the edges beforehand. I had some $22/yd (US) stretch wool that I dry cleaned, but then goofed and washed it. I know I can still use it. It also has moth holes as I was living in Alaska where there are no moths and moved to a moth area, but I know I can sew that after practicing on less expensive fabric first. I enjoy your channel very much. It is good inspiration to get back in practice.

Great tip, I hate prewash but I do it faithfully

Finishing the edges before prewashing is brilliant!

Awesome sunning reasoning. Thanks always.

KZfaq served up this very useful video just in the nick of time. I am about to dye and make pants out of a huge piece of heavy denim fabric. This addressed so many of my questions, thank you. Now I guess I better go make sure I subscribed.❤️

Yes! I would be very interested in a video on garment care/ laundering! If thats something you could do a video on I would be most interested. 🥰

Thank you for sharing 🌸

You are fabulous, Evelyn! I've watched a few of your videos now, and I really appreciate how well you explain everything. Your cheerful demeanor, and vintage aesthetic really drew me in. :-) Thank you for teaching me how to pre-wash my fabrics!

Well you look absolutely fabulous! Great styling. And thanks for the detailed video. I'm self taught, so never thought of pinking or zagging the edges especially on larger yardage. Thanks!