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Muslin Fabric – The Pattern Fitter And Quilter’s Friend
Muslin fabric is a member of the cotton family, and is generally a general term for a large group of inexpensive plain weave fabrics, that are either all cotton or cotton/polyester blends. Muslin fabric is typically natural in color, but can be bleached white. Muslin can vary in weight from light sheers to heavy sheeting. Muslin follows the fabric characteristics and sewing recommendations of plain weave fabrics.
Plain weave fabrics are easy to sew fabrics and in addition to muslin consist of such fabrics as broadcloth, calico, challis, chambray, cotton crepe, and percale which are often used for bed sheets.
Fabric Characteristics:
• Easy to sew • May shrink and wrinkle badly • Seam slippage may be a problem in poor quality fabrics • May be difficult to ease • May have poor elasticity and tear easily • Is durable
Working With These Fabrics Requires:
• Sewing machine needles used should be sizes 60/8-80/12 sharps depending on fabric weight • Hand sewing needles used are sizes 7-10 • Sewing machine settings are a stitch length of 2-2.5mm • Sewing machine feet recommended are zipper, walking, roller and blind hem foot • Thread recommended is all-purpose cotton, polyester, cotton/polyester blend and for topstitching all-purpose top stitching thread • Tools and equipment recommended are sharp scissors, sharp shears, rotary cutter and mat, pins and fabric weights • Layout should be double layer, right sides together • Marking Tools can be all types • Seams recommended are plain • Hems recommended are plain • Seam and hem finishes recommended are single or double-ply; serged, pinked and pinked and stitched, multi-zigzag and zigzag • Edge finishes recommended all types • Interfacings recommended sew-in or fusible • Linings and underlinings recommended are rarely used • Closures and pockets recommended are all types
These Fabrics Are Suitable For:
Muslin is generally used by pattern fitters and by quilters as backing fabrics for quilts. Muslin can also be used for underwear, aprons, linings, shirts, dresses, sheets, pillowcases, and furniture coverings.
For information about the notions, tools, and equipment required to complete a sewing project, click here to view the sewing notions home page For more information about this family of fabrics some great references are:
Claire Shaeffer’s Fabric Sewing Guide
All About Cotton – Julie Parker’s Fabric Reference Series
For more interesting information about muslin fabric click here on Wikipedia.org
and click here on fabricsmanufacturers.com
To continue exploring information about fabrics follow the links below.
Nylon Fabric
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