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Member since 3/1/09
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Posted on: 3/2/09 4:42 PM ET
I've just bought a piece of denim fabric, pre-washed and dried it. It came out of the washer with several deep-set creases that didn't come out in the dryer. Ironing at high temp with lots of steam helped, but the creases are still kinda there. The fabric came from a nice store with quality stock, so I don't blame the fabric. Should I be leaving the iron on top of the fabric for more than about 15 seconds in one place? Does this often happen and it's just unavoidable?
  
Member since 5/19/06
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Posted on: 3/2/09 4:47 PM ET
I usually wash denim 2 or 3 times to shrink it as much as possible, and I dry it as hot as possible for the prewash phase, even if I don't plan to dry the garment at a high temp when it's completed. The wrinkles can be reduced if you have a less vigorous spin cycle. My washing machine allows for low, medium, and high spin. You will have wetter fabric but fewer wrinkles with the low spin than with medium or high spin. The centrifugal force used to get the water out of the fabric is what sets the wrinkles, sort of like pressing them into the fabric.
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Fictionfan
  
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Posted on: 3/3/09 9:24 AM ET
Thanks for the good ideas! I'm a newbie, so the high-temp washing several times with low spin never occurred to me. I'll try it now.
  
Member since 2/5/06
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Posted on: 3/3/09 4:44 PM ET
Starch it :)
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Bernina 740, 700, and 430 -- Babylock BLCS, and Ovation -- APQS Millennium -- Vintage Singers 401a, 403, 404, 421g, 301, 15-90, 201-2
  
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Posted on: 3/3/09 8:12 PM ET
In reply to KathleenWH
We are all newbies for something! This is something I learned when we bought a new washer. It was in the washer instructions for all the various cycles we never had before. I struggled with wrinkly twills for years, washing more than once hoping to soften it enough to work with it. Another thing about denim and other twills: don't try too hard to get the grainline straight. They always seem to be off-grain, but if you succeed in correcting the grain, the fabric will go back to the off-grain state in the garment and mess it up.

When I am working with a particularly stubborn off-grain heavy twill, such as heavier denims, I will cut each piece one at a time so that each piece is as on-grain as I can get it, sometimes single layer instead of doubled. It takes a lot more time that way, but the fabric goes together more smoothly and my garments hang better. I really enjoy the cutting out part of sewing, maybe even more than the actual sewing, so this is never a chore for me, but it does take longer to layout and cut each pattern piece on at a time.
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Fictionfan
  
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Posted on: 3/4/09 10:20 AM ET
Thanks for the advice about grainline for twills and denims. I've read about the importance of staying on the grain, but it's still a difficult concept for me and I worry a lot that I'm doing something wrong. I hadn't thought of cutting each piece individually that way -- nice solution!
  
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Posted on: 3/4/09 4:34 PM ET
Until Worth began making gowns in the early 1800's, grainlines were not even a concept when people made clothes. They just cut things out any which way to use as little fabric as possible. Paper patterns weren't available until late 1800's, I think, and they did not always have grainlines on them.

So, if you cut something out not quite on grain, it will not hang as well as if it were on grain or on the true bias, and it may not be as easy to work with the pieces as you sew if they are cut off grain, but it will still work. In fact, I notice RTW being off grain often, especially knits. Ever have a RTW top with seams that won't stay at the sides like they should? Probably off grain.

So, don't stress about it too much. Get the fabric as on grain as you can, and go for it. Chances are, your custom made product will fit better and at the least not be worse than what you can buy, and it will be unique.
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Fictionfan
  
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