Always pretreat fabric before sewing to remove chemical sizing from the manufacturing process. Pre-washing also gives you a better sense of the true drape and handfeel of a fabric. We recommend washing and drying fabric in the same way you intend to wash your finished garment. Be sure to separate brights and colours, as some dyes and prints may run the first few times you wash them. It’s important to wash and dry cotton to remove any potential shrinkage down the road.

More delicate cottons like voile, double gauze or embroidered cottons should be washed by hand or on the delicate cycle in warm water and tumble dry on medium or hot. Avoid hanging in sunlight for long periods.

You can use a hot iron when pressing. We recommend using french seams for sheer and semisheer cotton to enclose the raw edges.