Do women know about shrinkage?

My firm policy is not to buy any cereal with any sort of cartoon
figure on the box. Saves me endless trouble!
Roberta in D

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:07:17 -0500, "Polly Esther"
wrote:

My challenge lately has been plain old Rice Krispies. They seem to change
the size of the box at least twice a day. Our cabinet shelves are
adjustable so when they made them taller, I adjusted. The next week, I just
moved cereal storing over to the pantry. Last Tuesday, WalMart had a
display of Rice Krispie boxes that were about the size of our washing
machine. DH muttered "back porch for that one?" and I just wondered who
could possibly manage that sort of 'saving'.
Now, if someone could please tell me how to get the @#$! plastic
wrapping open without going out to the tool shed for some serious help.
Polly

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 9:18 am, "Dr. Zachary Smith"
wrote:
Of course you do. It was a bad reference from Seinfeld, but it
works...
Anyhoo, I bought some black quilting cotton last week(?) for my PCQ
foundation [reminder: utility quilt] that was, according to the bolt,
44"/45". Unfortunately I took the bolt at its word. I washed the
fabric in cold water as I'm supposed to, to pre-shrink it. So I
ironed it last night, layed it out to cut the foundation (bought
enough for three tries just in case...) and find it's now only 42"
wide. Now I/we expected shrinkage, but is 3" reasonable or do you
think this stuff was not 44"/45" as represented? It's not going to
kill anything - so I start with a 42" square foundation instead of 44"/
45" - big fat hairy deal... I'm just curious if quilting cotton is
usually prone to shrink that much...

Next step is to hem the two rough edges to prevent fraying while I'm
working on things...

Doc

I'd bet your fabric wasn't 44/45" to begin with. This has been a real
source of irritation for me lately, since I got hooked making baby
quilts.
I'd made a quilt so that regular 44/45" fabric would work for the
backing,
not having to piece it.
Lo and behold. I had the LQS lady measure and my fabric of choice
was only 42" *on the bolt*. Since then I always check.

This trend also really screws up patterns using fat quarters when they
assume a fat quarter will be 22 inches, and it's not!

I don't know the reason for this trend. I imagine it's the same reason
that
cans of vegetables, candy bars, etc.etc. have shrunk. Instead of
raising
the price on that stuff, they shrink it and think we don't notice???

Sherry

Doc, they lie. Everything with a size on it that isn't set by some
sort of legal apparatus (think the gas pump) lies. Assume everything
is smaller than it says. Unless you want it to be small, in which case
it will be big and floppy.

But about your foundation -- I worked with 18" squares for my
foundations on my niece's CQ. By the time I finished they were about
16-1/2" and that was the largest size I could imagine working with for
crazy quilting. I like 12-14" squares better. Much more manageable.
And remember, after you cover the top, you will have to square the
thing. The edges will be anything but straight after you've covered it
with fabric.

Sunny
can't wait to see your quilt

Hi Roberta,

On Oct 13, 1:01*pm, Roberta Roberta@Home wrote:
Not many bolts actually measure 44-45", IME. Regardless of what it
says. Maybe the loom was that wide, or something. I always assume
"around 40" and buy accordingly, on the few occasions when I buy for a
specific project.

Yeah, on most fabrics, our rule of thumb is 40" of useable fabric,
which makes a lot of kits & other estimates way off, but it seems to
be the real world. I was willing (and still am) to take what I can
get. It's the labeled width that disappointed me (along with the
clerk's optimism - it's not like I wasn't going to buy it or
anything...)

Fabric doesn't shrink that much. What DOES happen
when you wash it is relaxation. Grain lines sometimes shift back to
where they were when first woven, sizing washes out, everything goes
softer. You frequently lose a couple of inches on the length, if you
were counting on cutting strips on the crosswise grain, because the
cut they made at the store is no longer at right angles to the
selvedges. Sometimes you just have to choose whether to respect the
lengthwise or the crosswise grain, can't have both!

I accounted for that. Assuming 45" max., and 3 "squares"... (45 x 3)
= 135 / 36 = 3.75 yds., so I bought 4 yds. I'm good. Since it came
out to 42" after washing, we made the length 43, and hemmed both ends
for a finished size of 42" square. Whatever it comes out to when it's
covered, it is.

Doc

On Oct 13, 1:19*pm, onetexsun wrote:
Doc, they lie.

Thanks, I'm getting that impression. Now that I know, I know. ;-)

But about your foundation --

Uh-oh... Here we go again...

Sunny
can't wait to see your quilt

You, me, and half of the rest of the free-quilting world... ;-)

Doc

Dr. Zachary Smith wrote:
On Oct 13, 11:45 am, Joanna wrote:
snip
This all started cuz I had mice. Now we got rid of the mice but I would
never go back to my old ways. Just food for thought...

Instead of food for the mice? 8^D

My cats bring live mice home. Why is it always the pregnant ones that
escape and go to ground in the dry goods cupboard? Both beasties
usually eat what they catch, be it mouse, bird (including pigeons!), and
bunnies.

Most of my eatables go in a variety of plastic containers. But I think
the cats bring the mice home to fatten up for later.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:18:58 -0500, Dr. Zachary Smith wrote
(in article
):

Of course you do. It was a bad reference from Seinfeld, but it
works...
Anyhoo, I bought some black quilting cotton last week(?) for my PCQ
foundation [reminder: utility quilt] that was, according to the bolt,
44"/45". Unfortunately I took the bolt at its word. I washed the
fabric in cold water as I'm supposed to, to pre-shrink it. So I
ironed it last night, layed it out to cut the foundation (bought
enough for three tries just in case...) and find it's now only 42"
wide. Now I/we expected shrinkage, but is 3" reasonable or do you
think this stuff was not 44"/45" as represented? It's not going to
kill anything - so I start with a 42" square foundation instead of 44"/
45" - big fat hairy deal... I'm just curious if quilting cotton is
usually prone to shrink that much...

Next step is to hem the two rough edges to prevent fraying while I'm
working on things...

Doc

I don't know if it would be expected, but a) some fabrics are notorious for
shrinking a lot (flannel comes to mind) and b) the bolt end might have lied.
Any more, I assume when figuring yardage that quilting cotton is 42" wide,
not 45" no matter what the bold says.

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:18:58 -0700 (PDT), "Dr. Zachary Smith"
wrote:

Of course you do. It was a bad reference from Seinfeld, but it
works...
Anyhoo, I bought some black quilting cotton last week(?) for my PCQ
foundation [reminder: utility quilt] that was, according to the bolt,
44"/45". Unfortunately I took the bolt at its word. I washed the
fabric in cold water as I'm supposed to, to pre-shrink it. So I
ironed it last night, layed it out to cut the foundation (bought
enough for three tries just in case...) and find it's now only 42"
wide. Now I/we expected shrinkage, but is 3" reasonable or do you
think this stuff was not 44"/45" as represented? It's not going to
kill anything - so I start with a 42" square foundation instead of 44"/
45" - big fat hairy deal... I'm just curious if quilting cotton is
usually prone to shrink that much...

Next step is to hem the two rough edges to prevent fraying while I'm
working on things...

Shrink is a very varied thing.
It can depend on a lot of different things.
When figuring out how much fabric I will need I just assume 10% shrink
and then add 5-10 percent to the total amount I figure I need.
Yes, quilt cottons will shrink more than most other cottons. A 60
threads per inch fabric will shrink more than a 120 threads per inch
fabric, and most cottons prefered for quilting fall into the 60 thread
range. Higher thread counts shrink less than the same thread in lower
counts.

If your fabric was 44 inches wide, you only lost about 2 inches to
shrink. Not bad, but I would go back and engage in some serious
laundry abuse to make sure you got it all. I have gotten up to four
plus inches of shrink across the width on cottons I prewash for
batiking. Those I all but boil in the prewash, because hey, I will
boil them in process.

NightMist
--

Legolas is my house elf

Dr. Zachary Smith wrote:
Of course you do. It was a bad reference from Seinfeld, but it
works...
Anyhoo, I bought some black quilting cotton last week(?) for my PCQ
foundation [reminder: utility quilt] that was, according to the bolt,
44"/45". Unfortunately I took the bolt at its word. I washed the
fabric in cold water as I'm supposed to, to pre-shrink it....(snip)
and find it's now only 42"
wide. Now I/we expected shrinkage, but is 3" reasonable or do you
think this stuff was not 44"/45" as represented? ...snip...
Doc

First off, if you washed 100% cotton in COLD water, it shouldn't have
shrunk. Hot water wash, even a warm water wash could result in
shrinkage but not cold water. IMHO 3" shrinkage on 45" wide fabric
would be a bit much for good quality cotton washed in hot water. I read
Nightmists post -- she expects 10% shrinkage) and have never had the
sort of shrinkage she expects to get. Not sure why that is but as she
says, shrinkage is a varied result thing.
I pre-shrink all my fabrics (good quality quilting cotton and the el
cheapo stuff from Wally World) and the only time I have had that sort of
shrinkage was with stuff that was so obviously cheap (poor quality dye,
loosely woven, etc.) that I fully expected it. As for 44"/45" fabric
being smaller, I've gotten burned in the past when figuring out how much
of a certain size block I can get out of the WOF. Now I always use 40"
as a standard and am STILL caught short even when I measure the WOF
first! I will toss my hat in the "you got miss marked fabric" ring.
As you have now learned, they lied and it's not the first time either.
As for Polly's theory about clothing shrinking when it hangs in the
closet for too long -- I'm afraid to tell you all but she's dead wrong.
It's not hanging around that does it. Your clothing gets shrunk when
you are off on holiday and have left your "babies" at home -- kitties or
doggies or birds, etc. They sneak into the closet, take out the
clothing and then wash it all in HOT water and load it into the dryer
for way tooooo long at too high a heat and THAT is how your clothing
shrinks! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

don't know if 3" is the norm for quilting cotton - but it is for denim
jeans!

Musicmaker who only has 2 pair of jeans that fit!

Musicmaker wrote:
don't know if 3" is the norm for quilting cotton - but it is for denim
jeans!

Musicmaker who only has 2 pair of jeans that fit!

I don't have any 100% cotton denim jeans anymore but DH does. Even
when I did wear them, I never had them shrink that much. I wonder what
we are doing differently when we wash them??? I've always used warm
water to wash and "normal" heat & drying time for DH's jeans.
Regardless, on the first wash/dry, they do shrink but not as much as you
have experienced and it's never a problem for DH's jeans because he has
no legs - 20" inseam -- and it's virtually impossible to jeans that
length so I end up getting a 32" length. I wash his new jeans in the
hottest water possible but they never shrink enough and he has to turn
up the cuffs.
I'm not saying your wrong -- far from it -- just that I have never
experienced what you have. I wonder what we do differently?? I will
say that I have experienced near that much shrinkage when I have
pre-washed denim yardage. That stuff shrinks like flannel does!
CiaoMeow ^;;^
--
PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary