Our site is getting a makeover! Please bear with us whilst we make improvements
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.
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…. (more…)
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
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
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.
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!