The Pre-treatment: Seeing the Right Amount of Red

Do you pretreat your fabrics before you embark on a new sewing project?  

Generally, I do pre-treat my fabric with the method that I plan to launder a project once it is complete. Sometimes, I don't for one reason or another.  

My Euro Cup final dress was a last minute project when Portugal made it to the final game match. There wasn't any time to waste so I skipped the pre-treatment process and this became a one-wear wonder. The red dye bled all over the neighbouring colours. It broke my creative heart because of the memories tied to it and it was comfortable too. Lesson learnt.  

Fast forward, with a stop down memory lane. A couple of years ago I spotted this project, a festive Canada Day worthy shirt. I always admired this project, and how fun would it be to have your own unique Canada Day shirt that is not a t-shirt? Quite fun, I thought when I spotted this cotton print.  

Yes, just like the Portuguese flag, Canada's flag colours also have red. This is going to call for some careful pretreatment in case this fabric is a bleeder.  And I wasn't willing to risk it so I did some research.  

It came out just lovely wrinkled but the print is the same and the colours are in their original state. kAtheRine Tilton's Butterick 6325 is the pattern I'm thinking about using moving forward. I wonder if I can get this done in time? Next up a good pressing before this moves to the cutting table.  

  

Happy Sewing!