Minky Fabric Guides and Sewing Tutorials

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 6: Stay Dry Fabrics

by Kellie Rose | Apr 24, 2015 | Cloth Nappy Making, Minky Fabric, My Makes, Product Guides, Sustainable Sewing

Hello! And welcome to the last part of my nappy making fabrics guide. Last up we’re going to talk about “Stay Dry” fabrics which are often used as the inner layer of a nappy. We have up to 20% off all fabrics in our “Stay Dry” section and all orders placed over this week that you’ve asked us to hang on to will be dispatched today. We also have 20% off nappy making kits all week long.

What is a Stay Dry Fabric?

A stay dry fabric is generally a man-made fibre which feels (almost) dry to the touch after it’s gotten wet. These fabrics are said to have “wicking” properties, which means they draw moisture away from the skin and out in to the atmosphere so the moisture can evaporate. Let’s be real here, if you pour water on to any fabric it’s never going to be 100% dry but on these types of fabrics it will feel much dryer than an a natural fibre absorbent fabric which will just be sopping wet.

Why is this important in a cloth nappy? So your baby isn’t sat with wetness against his or her skin for any period of time. So how do stay dry fabrics do this? It all comes down to the wicking…

Most wicking fabrics are made from polyester blends, and synthetic fabrics don’t retain moisture like natural fibre fabrics do. Polyester holds on to a tiny 0.4% of moisture where as cotton retains about 7%. All polyester fabrics are not wicking fabrics, the wicking properties comes from the weave. The fabrics are constructed in such a way that the moisture is forced into and through the gaps in the weave

So there are a number of fabrics that can be used as a stay dry layer and each can perform differently. Our most popular choices are microfleece and suedecloth but some people choose to use cuddlesoft or plush too.

Microfleece

Microfleece is probably the most popular nappy lining fabric we stock, it’s a fleece fabric which is incredibly soft, thin, comes in a variety of colours and wicks moisture very well. No fabric will be completely dry when liquid is added but microfleece is one of the best at pulling the moisture away from the skin to the outer of the fabric and letting it evaporate and keeping you cool and comfortable. Because of this it’s also a popular choice for exercise clothing. We also stock an which has a smooth knit on one side and fleece on the other, it’s a great choice for slimming down your nappy even further.

Suedecloth

Suedecloth is a 100% polyester fabric which has a very short, fuzzy nap on one side and a smooth knit on the other. It’s much thinner than regular microfleece and is cheaper too. It works very well as a wicking fabric and is the fabric used as an lining fabric in many mass manufactured cloth nappies. It’s a popular choice as it comes in a wide range of colours and is only £3.99pm!

Other Stay Dry Options

Plush

Some people line their nappies with plush (minky) fabric. I had several nappies lined with plush and due to its luxurious and tactile nature it certainly made the nappy feel very special. Lining with plush does add bulk and in my experience it doesn’t feel quite as “dry” as microfleece or suedecloth but the performance is still adequate and it does have the bonus of feeling extra special.

Cuddly, super soft plush fabric

Cuddlesoft

Cuddlesoft is in essence a plush fabric without a brand name behind it. This means the quality isn’t as good as something like Shannon’s cuddle fabric, but it’s still lovely and tactile and usually a bit thinner so it makes it a good choice for a nappy lining fabric. In my experience it performs a little less well than microfleece or suedecloth, but it’s perfectly fine.

Well that concludes my series on cloth nappy fabrics and I hope you may have learnt something or perhaps been tempted to give cloth nappies a try. It’s by no means exhaustive and there are so many other ways to use the fabrics too, I’ve just mentioned some of the post popular. If you have any other questions or have an area that’s puzzling do get in touch and I’ll do my best to help.

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 5: A Guide To Plush and Outer Fabrics

by Kellie Rose | Apr 23, 2015 | Cloth Nappy Making, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Minky Fabric, Sustainable Sewing

Boring Legal Bit: If you follow any tutorial or guidance found in this post, or on this blog, you agree to be bound by our disclaimer which can be viewed here

Hello! And welcome to part 5 of my nappy making fabrics guide (you can read the rest of the series here). Today we’re going to talk about one of the best bits of cloth nappy making – the pretties!! The outer layer is where most of the fun happens so read on….

Today we have 20% off all plush/ minky as well as quilt weight cottons so fill your boots! If you’d like to get involved in more than one offer this week but are worrying about the accrued postage costs – don’t! Just leave us a note at check out and ask us to hold your order until the end of the week then we’ll dispatch it all together and refund you any postage charges due. We also have 20% off nappy making kits all week long.

The use of the word “pretties” is rife within the cloth nappy community and boy, are there some amazing creations out there. Many WAHM (Work At Home Mum) creations really excel at turning nappies in to works of art.

So what are the fabrics you can use on the outside of a nappy?

PUL

A lot of mass manufactured nappies will use PUL as the outer layer. This works well for a number of reasons. Firstly, that you’re using the waterproof layer as the outer layer so you are reducing the number of layers needed by one. This means it costs less to make and you get a slimmer nappy. The down side comes when considering the pretty factor – it’s more difficult to embellish and customise PUL without affecting it’s waterproof properties. With the right handling it is possible to embroider on to PUL but those needle puncture holes will eventually weaken the PUL and longer term is likely to affect the performance and longevity of your nappy.

PUL as an outer fabric

Plush/ minky fabric

To my mind, this is where the magic happens. Plush is great to use as the outer of a nappy, keeping it simple it comes in an array of pretty prints so you can get a good looking nappy with minimum effort. It’s very forgiving for less than perfect stitching as stitches get hidden in the pile and let’s face it, plush fabric is one of the nicest, most stroke-able fabrics you’ll ever come across and what nicer feeling is there to have on your baby’s bottom?

You can read my full Guide to Plush Fabric here which has some hints and tips about sewing and a guide to it’s composition and handling.

You actually don’t need any fancy machines to create spectacular nappies, just check out this amazing creation from Bumble Bees (this is actually my nappy, I’m SO lucky!)

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees MCN

You can use applique really effectively to create some really amazing effects.

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees MCN

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees MCN

But if you are lucky enough to have an embroidery machine then there really is no limit. I mean, just look at this from Dinky Dot Bots . If these don’t have you adding an embroidery machine to your Christmas list, I don’t know what will.

Image courtesy of Dinky Dot Bots

Image courtesy of Dinky Dot Bots

So as well as being pretty and tactile, using plush as the outer of a nappy does have some functional benefits. Because it’s a polyester fabric it won’t easily absorb moisture, this means that it’s unlikely to wick any moisture on to your baby’s clothes.

Cotton

Another option for your outer layer is to use a quilt weight cotton. Because of the vast array of choice, cotton is a popular choice to easily add some decorative magic to a nappy. Because cotton is a natural fibre and will absorb moisture relatively quickly it isn’t common to see the outer layer made completely out of 100% cotton because the risk of wicking is high. Often cotton will be teamed up with plush placing it as a high back panel like this:

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees MCN

Or at back and the front leaving plush fabric around the leg area like this:

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees MCN

All of that said, I recently had a chat with Toya from Made by Toya who reminded me that ages ago we’d spoken on the phone about using cotton as an outer and I didn’t recommend it because of the potential wicking issue, but I’d not tried it . She was keen to use fabrics from her stash so she did. And it worked! She used the Chelory method. which I’d not seen before so using cotton is definitely an option. This would be a great way to use up some of your stash and keep the nappy trimmer too.

Image courtesy of Made By Toya

Well I hope that has given you some idea of the different fabrics you can use on the outside of a nappy, and the design elements that are possible. I’ll be back tomorrow for the last in this series and shall be talking about the options you can use on the inside of a nappy, often called “Stay Dry Fabrics”

Cuddle Puzzle Quilt: Pieces By Polly

by Kellie Rose | Mar 20, 2015 | Minky Fabric, My Makes, Tutorials

If you follow me on Instagram you’l know that I recently made this puzzle quilt from super soft plush fabric. The moment I saw Polly’s quilt shared by Shannon Fabrics I swooned and instantly fell in love. It’s a rainbow! It’s a jigsaw! It’s super soft and fluffy! These are all things that appeal greatly to Mrs Plush and I just had to give it a try.

It’s an absolutely ingenious design. Initially I thought it was beyond my capabilities – I mean how the hell do you sew those curves? Well the answer is – you don’t. They are appliquéd on. Awesome.

I followed Polly’s tutorial which she put together as part of Shannon’s Great Cuddle Cake Challenge. It takes two packs of Shannon Cuddle Cakes and, in a nutshell, you cut out the “knobbies”, appliqué them on to adjacent squares and then stitch in to rows, then the rows together. It really is pretty simple. (Please note my mahoosive SuperBoard in the above photo which was invaluable in laying the squares on to, this board is super handy for dressmaking too, especially if you are rubbing off your own clothes to make patterns.)

Lots of Bondaweb knobbies

There’s not much to add to the original tutorial, I followed it pretty much to the letter except I didn’t use any wadding (batting) because I thought two layers of plush would be enough, and I really like the result. It’s a lovely, flexible and soft quilt. I trimmed back the “knobbies” in the seams once the top was sewn as it was pretty bulky in places. I’ve never quilted two layers of plush before and I thought I’d be a good quilty girl and start from the centre of the quilt each time to help with any travelling. I can’t say that this worked that well for me and I did get a bit of bunching in a couple of places and it seemed to work better just quilting form edge to edge which is what I ended up doing for the lion’s share.

Appliqué of the “knobbies”

I thought it might be handy to have a list of the thread colours I used to match the Very Vibrant Cuddle Cake pack that I used as the thread is visible on the top

I used Gutermann Sew All Thread colours 372, 733, 156, 392, 350, 852, 336, 833, 197, 311.

I backed my quilt with Embossed Chevron Red Cuddle and I used Dark Lime Cuddle for my binding.

If you fancy having a go at this we’ve put together this bundle which contains two packs of cuddle cakes, 10 co-ordinating threads and a pack of Bondaweb which will save you £4.40 than if you bought everything separately PLUS we’re chucking in a free hessian bag. Don’t say we don’t look after you.

Fancy having a bash at Polly’s Cuddle Puzzle Quilt yourself?

A Guide To Plush (A Guide To Minky Fabric)

by Kellie Rose | Dec 28, 2014 | Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Minky Fabric, My Makes

I wrote this article a few months ago and was originally published in the September issue of Sewing World Magazine but I’m sharing it here for those that missed the publication at the time (did you know that Sewing World Magazine have been around for over 20 years? Impressive!) Super proud that this was the first in a series of fabric guides I wrote for them, which I thoroughly enjoyed (#ExcitedMuch). I hope you find it helpful and feel free to ask any questions, I’ll surely do my best to answer them.

Plush : A Fabric Guide

The name of my shop “Plush Addict” has to be testament to how much I love this kind of fabric. Once you’ve stroked it I promise you will feel the same! If you’re not familiar with it you’re in for a treat as plush fabric is a buttery soft, fluffy fabric with a short pile and is incredibly tactile. The divine softness of the fabric lends itself very well to children’s makes such as soft toys and baby blankets but it can be used in a plethora of other places such as clothes and home furnishings. You might have heard it called “minky” before now, but in the UK it’s no longer possible for the fabric to be sold under that name because of a trademark issue and it’s becoming better known as plush or cuddle fabric [see this post for further information about minky fabric name change.]

The popularity of plush fabric has been growing over the past few years; this is evident as more of the larger fabric brands are bringing out collections. From Timeless Treasures we have “Softie”, from Riley Blake we had “Dreamy”, Michael Miller recently introduced “Cozy”, don’t the names sound inviting? They remind me of snuggling under a blanket on the sofa sipping a hot chocolate, and that’s exactly the feeling that plush fabric gives you – a little bit of “Mmmm, lovely!” It’s fantastic that some of the big brands are waking up to the wonder of plush and providing more choice, however the unrivalled King of the Cuddle has to be Shannon Fabrics. They have a mind-boggling selection of plush fabrics available and I’m very proud to stock a huge selection of the Shannon range. Shannon plush really is the premium version of this fabric and the quality is unrivalled. It has a gorgeous sheen and the hand is quite exquisite.

The most popular types of plush are smooth and dimple (or bubble) and we carry all of Shannon’s amazing 85 colours so you’re sure to find the perfect colour to suit your taste and project. There is also a huge choice of patterned plush from chevrons to florals to charming children’s prints.

There is a textured range of plush which include burn out prints such as chevrons, stripes and florals, a delightful rose swirl which is very popular for blankets as it has a deep, cosy pile. There’s even a fabric called shaggy which has a 25mm pile and makes amazing monsters, see the fabulous monster rucksack we made in this fabric!

Composition and Handling

The fabric itself is polyester so it’s a dream to launder and doesn’t require any pressing. It has a right and a wrong side, the short, fluffy directional pile is the right side and there’s a smooth knit on the wrong wide and it has a cross grain stretch. The pile on these fabrics means once cut there will be some shedding, but once that’s shaken away the edges won’t fray and edges can be left unfinished without the worry of any unraveling. The pile and the stretch can prove tricky under the needle but with the right management there isn’t any reason why a beginner sewist can’t be successful.

Top Tips For Sewing With Plush

If left to it’s own devices plush can slip and slide on your machine giving you an unsightly finish so it needs a bit of special handling. If you follow these simple tips you are lining yourself up for success and it really is so scrumptious it’s worth the effort! My top tips are:

Pin, pin and pin some more – I find that either pinning on a diagonal or horizontally to the edge helps to stabilise the fabric, I place pins about every 1cm. Wonderclips are also a fantastic gadget to invest in for sewing plush and keeping it in check.
Use a longer stitch length – I find a length of 3 to 3.5 works very well, longer for the deeper pile fabrics such as shaggy.
Use a walking foot – this will help feed the top and bottom fabrics through your machine evenly at the same speed. A walking foot will give you the best results but if you don’t have one you can reduce the pressure on your presser foot, pin lots and sew slowly.
Keep the grain lines the same – this will help combat any issues encountered with the pile and stretch
Use a ball point needle – I find a 90/14 ballpoint needle works well

Embroidering on plush fabrics

Machine embroidery is getting more popular and embroidery on plush fabrics and looks wonderful. You can embroider soft toy faces or add a commemorative message on to baby blankets for a special keep sake. You need to use a water soluble topper when embroidering fabrics with a pile to ensure the fabric doesn’t poke through your stitches. We stock Avalon water soluble topper which is perfect for the job and dissolves in cold water. I would recommend using a medium weight cut away stabilizer and using some temporary adhesive spray such as 505 spray to ensure your stabilizer and fabric don’t move in the hoop. The key to successful embroidery is to ensure you don’t stretch the plush fabric in your embroidery hoop and to make sure it’s your stabiliser that is drum tight.

I hope this guide helps has enlightened you to the joys of sewing with plush and wish you many happy makes from this wonderfully addictive fabric.

About me: A self confessed fabric addict, I adore fabric of all kinds and the journey of imagination and possibilities it presents. When I’m not managing my web shop www.plushaddict.co.uk I like to write tutorials and fabric guides for my blog and somewhere I squeeze in looking after my hubby and gorgeously funny daughter!

And if you have any tips of your own to have then do let me know!

How To Restore Plush (Minky) Remnants

by Kellie Rose | Jun 11, 2014 | Discount Fabric, Fabric, Fabric Guides, Fabric Remnants, Minky Fabric, Tutorials

Plush, minky, cuddle fabric… whatever you like to call it! (For an update on why we don’t call the fabric “minky” in the UK like the rest of the world does see this post) There’s no mistaking the lusciousness that started me on the road to our online shop. The trouble is (for us) the last 50cm-75cm of every bolt we have can only be sold as a fabric remnant. The pile near to the centre of the bolt gets brushed up the wrong way and crushed when the weight of the rest of the fabric piles on top of it. Then it’s stored by the manufacturer for a while and in that time unfortunately the pile goes a bit wayward and no amount of stroking it puts it back to it’s former glory. The fabric isn’t permanently like this as the pile isn’t damaged per se, it’s just got a bit of bed hair so needs a little coaxing to restore it.

We finish a lot of plush bolts each week which means we have a lot of remnants being created all of the time, in fact we are drowning in the stuff. We have a whole corner of our warehouse dedicated to plush remnants! There are just too many for us to list for sale individually so we also sell bundles at a reduced price. I thought I’d share this quick guide on how to breathe the life back in to the end of roll plush fabric. It’s perfectly good, and a bargain too so it’s worth considering having a go at this if you are a plush lover.

Everything I’d ever read about plush or minky fabric told me never to iron the fabric, not surprising when you think that it’s 100% polyester so liable to melt! I first discovered this technique completely by accident, I was experimenting with some plush remnants to see if I could iron on Bondaweb to the reverse of the fabric and run it through our die cutter machine to make some plush appliqué shapes. Low and behold, not only did the Bondaweb stick, and I could, but the pile on the plush was completely restored.

Restoring Smooth Plush (Smooth Minky Fabric)

1) Set your iron to low and turn off the steam and iron the reverse of the fabric

iron the reverse of the fabric using a low dry heat

Often that’s all you need to do! It very much depends on the extent of the issue and will vary each time.

2) If you find this hasn’t worked try increasing the heat slightly. I’d recommend never getting any higher that the wool setting on your iron, any higher and you risk melting the fabric.

3) Sometimes the higher heat still doesn’t fully do the job and some bed hair remains, if that’s the case then flip your fabric over and iron the right side, making sure that the iron passes in the same direction as the pile.

iron the reverse of the fabric using a low dry heat 2

How to Restore Dimple Plush (Dimple Minky Fabric)

Now dimple is a different beast, whatever you do don’t go ironing dimple as otherwise the dimples will disappear. For ages I didn’t think anything could be done to restore dimple without a wash but then I had a brain wave and had another little experiment… and it worked!

Here’s a before picture…

All you need to do is pop your dimple plush in the tumble dryer for 10 minutes (mine was on the highest setting). Don’t leave it sitting in there to cool or it will crease more. Remove it and smooth the pile down

And here’s the finished result, perfect!

Most cuts will restore as good as new using these methods, but some are stubborn and just won’t completely disappear this way, but the pile will always restore after a launder in the washing machine as these bad hair days are not a permanent thing.

If you have discovered a different method then I’d love to hear it.

Happy Days!