Have you heard the news? Fableism wovens are so hot right now!
I've been hearing sewists and quilters rave about these wovens for a while now. The colors and designs are really beautiful and I've been looking for a good excuse to sew with them. These fabrics are slightly more expensive than regular quilting cotton, so I wanted the project to be a special one.
Everything fell into place when Ann of Crafty Moose Quilts asked me to test her new quilt pattern. The pattern, called Split Decision: Hearty, includes a baby size and features cute hearts. At the same time, my brother and his wife were about to have their first child, a baby girl, and making quilt for her was still on my to-do list. What better reason is there to splurge on pretty fabric than a quilt for a precious new niece?!
I ordered my fabric from Cottoneer and as soon as I opened the package and felt the fabric, I understood the hype. The wovens are unbelievably soft and have a luscious texture.
I must admit that I was a little nervous to be working with wovens. I've heard lots of stories about them stretching out of shape and fraying easily. The quilt pattern requires some very accurate seams to get the heart diagonals to line up well, and that was my biggest concern. The most common piece of advice I was given was to starch the fabric really well before beginning, to ensure the pieces don't stretch or fray.
Well... I am not a starcher. I just don't prefer it. It always seems to me that starching shrinks the fabric unevenly. I don't even do it when cutting and sewing curves. It's all turned out fine so far!
So I didn't starch. But here's what I did do that helped me keep everything in good order:
- Use a new needle. It's important to have a needle that is sharp and smooth. A dull needle has more risk of sewing poorly or even snagging that delicate fabric.
- Decrease your stitch length. A smaller stitch will help keep the fibers nice and secure. I recommend using a 1.8mm stitch length, which is actually what I use for all my piecing, wovens or not.
- Sew slowly. I slowed everything down for this quilt and lowered my max speed on my machine. No weird stretching or pulling here!
- Handle the fabric as little and as gently as possible. I treated those fabric pieces like they were made of glass. Instead of using my thread cutter to grab and cut all the chain pieced units apart, I carefully cut them apart with snips. I also didn't chain piece all of them at once to make a tangled pile at the back of my machine. I did a few, snipped, then stacked them nicely.
After doing those three things, I'm happy to say that my Split Decision: Hearty quilt came together beautifully. Again, I was very careful when basting and quilting the quilt on my domestic machine, but I didn't notice any real difference compared to other quilts I've quilted. I got it finished, bound, and washed just in time for my sweet niece to come home from the hospital. The drape and crinkle after washing was incredible and perfectly cozy for baby snuggles!
I hope that you'll give the Fableism wovens a try, because they really are luxurious! I definitely want to make a bigger quilt for my house with them. And if you are new to quilting, or not starch-averse, I hear it's a good idea to starch your wovens too. 😉
