Wrinkled duck cloth

[Ms Trish]

I washed my duck cloth and, due to what I'm sure is operator error, it came out all kinds of wrinkled. I've tried rewashing it and some of the wrinkles released, but not all. I've tried ironing and don't see much improvement. The wrinkles appear pretty ingrained and I don't want to proceed with cutting until they're under control. Ideas?

[gem]

I've had this issue as well, and your first instinct is correct--the cure is in re-washing. But here are some tips:

Make sure you have sufficient water in your washer for the fabric to be fully suspended/floating. It will wrinkle more if it's all piled/twisted in on itself.

Get it OUT of the washer the minute the spin cycle is over! Wrinkles happen when wet fabric sits on top of itself.

Shake it out so it goes into the dryer nice and loosely, not all crumpled and twisty.

Don't let it dry all the way. Whisk it out and over to your ironing board while it's still ever-so-slightly damp.

Then iron the h*ll out of it--hot hot iron with tons of steam. Spritz the fabric with extra water as needed.

THEN DON'T TOUCH OR MOVE IT UNTIL IT'S COOL! Ok, that's sort of impossible when you're talking about ironing yardage--but cotton will wrinkle again if it's moved before it has a chance to cool, so do your best to minimize its opportunity to rewrinkle.

You might find you still have some stubborn creases here and there--or that you've ironed and it *feels* smooth, but there are still wrinkles sort of visible... but things will soften up and smooth out more as you work with the fabric and sew it into something. And the good news is that the more you work with it, the less wrinkle-prone it will be, so you shouldn't have all this trouble with the finished garment.

Good luck!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Are we talking about heavy Canvas Duck?

I never pre-wash that because it loses it's durability and stiffness when I use it for Bodice underlinings and Corsets.

[Ms Trish]

Are we talking about heavy Canvas Duck?

I never pre-wash that because it loses it's durability and stiffness when I use it for Bodice underlinings and Corsets.

We are talking about that, yes. I wanted to wash it because I'm making my bodices washable too and I definitely don't want the inside pieces shriveling up smaller than the outside pieces!

Thank you, Miss Gem, for your tips! I did soak/wash it again and more came out - enough to work with. I'll just try to put aside the urge to twitch every time I see a wrinkle that didn't come out and work with it.

[gem]

I wash my canvas for bodice linings, too. It DOES soften up substantially, but I've never had a problem once the boning is inserted (either lightly boned bodices or heavily boned corsets or hemp corded linings, etc). I like to get that big bolt-crease down the middle out, anyway, and you can't just iron it away.

Also, once it's inside a bodice, even YOU won't know there's a wrinkle there! 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I figured as much that it was Cotton Canvas Duck.


I prefer the thick stiffness of the canvas to it being softer. I get better results that way. Nor do I have a problem ironing out wrinkles.

[DonaCatalina]

I wash my canvas for bodice linings, too. It DOES soften up substantially, but I've never had a problem once the boning is inserted (either lightly boned bodices or heavily boned corsets or hemp corded linings, etc). I like to get that big bolt-crease down the middle out, anyway, and you can't just iron it away.

Also, once it's inside a bodice, even YOU won't know there's a wrinkle there! 

I do also. Except I don't wash the whole 10 yeards at one time. I whack off enough length for the bodice stitch the edges and then wash. That prevents some of the 'mashed into the washer' type wrinkles.

[Ms Trish]

I do also. Except I don't wash the whole 10 yeards at one time. I whack off enough length for the bodice stitch the edges and then wash. That prevents some of the 'mashed into the washer' type wrinkles.

I thought about doing that too. Since I'm still new at this sewing thing, I cringe at the idea of whacking into the fabric until I know where my real cut lines are. I even get nervous taking a swatch of it (not the duck obviously, but the pretty stuff)!

[Goody]

thanks for the tips. i always thought sometimes it was wrinkled cuz of different fabrics not necessarily the care i gave em but it makes sense.  Fer sure wash at least once if not twice for interlining. Ive have some shrinkage after one wash and it never went in dryer after being sewed.