Nobody Likes Shrinkage

Lately I've been making a lot of bags which require precise cutting for numerous pieces.  I'm very careful when cutting fabric and try to make the most of my yardage by snugly placing pattern pieces right next to each other.  While this seems effective I can't tell you how many times I've ended up having to recut pieces after I have ironed on the interfacing.

I love Pellon SF101 and use it on almost everything and when I buy it I buy by the bolt.  But there is a small problem with it... it shrinks and your fabric shrinks with it.  So many times I have told myself to iron on the interfacing before I cut out the pattern piece.  I tell myself lots of things and then usually forget it two seconds later.

Today hopefully this little lesson will stick.  As I was making multiple iPad cases assembly line style, I came across the problem again with certain pieces not matching up like they should.  I had to recut a few pieces and finally decided it was time to iron on the interfacing first.

You can see in this picture how much the fabric had shriveled up.  It was almost a 1/2 inch difference.

I think in the end I will save more fabric by cutting out squares of fabric and affixing the interfacing first. Beats having to stop everything and re-cut the piece.  And if I may say so myself, my iPad cases are "sick" and I can't wait till they are all done and I can show them off.  It's really cool when you have a vision and are able to break down the necessary steps and seams to pull it off.

On another note I've got some cool new fabric bundles in the shop just click here for all my Christmas related items.

Happy Sewing!