🫧Honey, I shrunk the cotton.
Don't pull a George
Prewash or you'll be caught with shrinkage.
As natural fibers go through production they are getting stretched and processed, but just like when you get in a hot bath - these fibers relax in the water and return to their original shorter form. If you skip pre-washing, cut and sew your garment first, that shrinkage happens AFTER construction. Your seams pucker, your hem rises, and now your perfectly fitted top is a little too tight.
Pre-washing is just washing your fabric the same way you plan to wash the finished garment 🫧 — same wash and dry temp. You're basically letting the fabric have its little freak out NOW, before it's a garment, so it behaves itself later.
Pro move: Pre-wash your fabric as soon as you get it and when you take it out of the dryer - immediately iron it! If you're working with something with an open weave you can serge or zigzag the raw edges before throwing it in the wash so as not to fray your last nerve ✨
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