help me!

[Magot]

Bought some bargain crinkle broderie anglaise - 6m in cream and 3m in brown for only £9. Can't believe my luck! It was amazing enough finding a fabric shop let alone a bargain bin. Feels polycotton-y. My question is - OK prewash and dry - but do I iron it flat before cutting out and then crinkle it up again afterwards or cut out my pattern with the fabric crinkled. To me the latter seems stupid as the seams may not match but I have not used this stuff before. I am using a shirt/tunic loosly gathered on to a yoke sort of pattern.

[kaitlinnegan]

Here's a thread back on SWN on this topic: Sewing Crinkle Cotton

I think the moral of the story is that if you iron before cutting, the garment will be too small once it crinkles up again so you will have to iron it every time you want to wear it. But, if it's a loosely gathered shirt, I suppose it might still be ok. Hmm..

[Magot]

Thanks for the link Kaitlin - generally not ironing and small zig zag stitch seems to be in order - does any one know if this stuff crinkles up by itself again after washing - should I pre-wash and scrunch it - or just wash and tumble? I suppose I will know if I test a swatch!


I plan on making a grandad type shirt for my daughter for Christmas - tha pattern I have is a make that tends to make up quite large - and she never irons anything!

[AndreaSews]

Jan, are the crinkles all parallel, or is it multi-directional, more like general wrinkles? Yes, you cut it with the wrinkles. As for hang dry vs tumble dry, I think I'd want to do it the same way you will when you wear it. (I'd tumble and save myself the effort!) And I haev found the need to sandwich it between 2 layers of tissue paper to keep the wrinkles from flattening and running away from the scissors. It seemed to stretch with the slightest handling, and I had to spray it and hang it to dry again and again in order to restore the shape. I'd say stay stitching around curves will help a lot too.

[Magot]

Thanks Andrea - wrinkles are all parallel - stay stitching is a good idea - I just thought this was a bargain buy - didn't realise it would be so much work - still nice to work with something new. Sounds like I shall be the mad tacking woman!