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. You can add half a cup to one cup of vinegar to the final rinse cycle to help set the colours and minimize bleeding. It’s important to wash and dry denim to remove any potential shrinkage down the road.

For most applications, light to midweight denim can be cut on the fold. We recommend cutting heavyweight denims on a single layer. Use a fresh 90/14 needle for light to midweight denim and a 100/16 needle for heavyweight denim.