Sewing My Stash–Avoid Disaster! Test for Colorfastness

I’ve resolved to (mostly) focus on sewing my stash for the next few months.  I started a project a few days ago and then….I nearly had a DISASTER!!

First thing you need to know is that I never prewash but I usually test for colorfastness.  I usually test all reds, deep blues and deep purples.

Well, this time, I used a red fabric in a new project and I did not take a few minutes to test for colorfastness.  Then, this is what I noticed in one of the blocks. The red fabric bled into the yellow–not a great photo but you can just see it on the right side.  I then saw the red had run in another small block.  Good news is that I’m early into the sewing so I could take it out of the blocks I had sewn.

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING FABRICS FOR COLORFASTNESS: AVOID DISASTER

Most fabrics these days are very, very stable so a quick test is usually sufficient.

But if you’re sewing your stash, you (meaning ME!) really ought to test before using older fabrics.  And, one thing I learned today is that my usual 15 second test isn’t always enough.

Here’s what I do:  I sew a small piece of the fabrics from the project onto a strip of pure white fabric.  Then, I wet the strip thoroughly and let it sit for a few minutes.  With this red fabric, it did not bleed right away!  It took about a minute for the bleeding to start.

 

 

 

Here’s what my test showed after about 5 minutes.

So, I washed the red fabric 3 times in cold water.   On the 2nd wash, I used Color Catcher sheets.    By the 3rd wash, the water was pretty clear.

I then tested a swatch again and no running.  Although a tremendous amount of dye washed out, the fabric looked pretty much the same.  yes, I ‘m nervous so I’ll test it one more time before using it in a project.

AVOID DISASTER–TEST FOR COLORFASTNESS:  Lesson learned (almost) the hard way is test the fabric for at least 5 minutes before you start sewing.  If you are using older fabric, this is really a must do.  It only takes 5 minutes.  Come to think of it…I really ought to test my thread as well!