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Fabric, Fabric

© Jeanne Walsh

Fabric is fabric, right? The expensive fabric is always the best quality, right? Wrong! It is generally true that good quality fabric will be the most costly, but have you not been "stung" on a fabric, drawn by the pattern or color, and found later it was loosely woven and consisted mostly of sizing? I think most of us have. Fabric buying is often "impulse" buying.

Our quilt fabrics are made on a basic called "greige goods". Huge rolls come into our textile mills from weaving mills all over the world, made principally in Asia and southern and eastern U.S. Different content, cotton, polyester, flax, etc, different thread weights, different thread count per inch. This greige goods (pronounced grey) is then bleached, dried, and dyed for delivery to the end user, garment makers, upholstery industry, and our fabric stores. There are differences in the greige goods; more expensive fabric lines may be printed in Japan, or Korea. Korean goods may come to us through China.

The printing of the patterns on the greige goods is computerized and is done on high speed roller presses. Notice the row of numbers with little dots or boxes of color on the selvage of some fabrics. That is the number of colors used to make that print. When the fabric is through all the printing process, it will be inspected to be sure it is straight, that the threads have not been pulled crooked and that the dye process is true to the designer.

As the clerk unrolls your choice of fabric for measuring, keep a lookout for wrinkles on the bolt (which means it was not wrapped straight) and for color changes (bad dye). Don't hesitate to ask to see the suspect area.

Excess dye is a problem to be confronted. Fabric that is stiff with dye should be rinsed and rinsed until the water no longer shows color. Stiffness caused by sizing can be rinsed out, but you may be left with a limp loosely woven product.

Not all flatfolds are inferior, some are just outdated designs and were made into flatfolds for clearance. Not all bolts on the clearance table are inferior. And not all more expensive fabrics are the best quality. Learn to judge the fabric you buy from thread count, "hand", straightness on the bolt, no wrinkles and no dye streaks. The reputation of the shop or dept store and your own good judgement will help you in determining whether a fabric is suitable for your next project.