You love the softness but you are nervous about sewing handmade baby quilts using minky fabric.
The baby quilt can be soft without having a disaster at the sewing machine. Here are a few helpful tips to make your experience with minky go smoothly.
Tip#1
Prewash any fabric that will be sewn with the minky. This is the first and most important step. Since minky does not shrink, you will have problems with the other fabrics if they do.
Tip #2
Do not iron minky because the heat will ruin the dots for your handmade baby quilts. If you have used the minky with other fabrics in handmade baby quilts, such as cotton, use a low heat and press on the wrong side with a towel.
Tip #3
Don’t allow the minky to stretch when cutting. Lay the fabric flat and place the salvages together and pin. This will help reduce the minky from slipping while cutting. It is important to reposition and repin after each row of cuts. Pay attention to the nap as you cut piece for handmade baby quilts. Be sure that all pieces are cut with the same nap.
Tip #4
Pin! Pin! Pin! Minky stretches. Plan to put a pin every one inch (1”) to eliminate any possibility that the presser foot and feed dog will try to guide it and result in possible puckers. Whether you are sewing minky to minky or minky to any other fabric, pinning is worth the time it takes to do the task. A “walking foot” on your machine will also make a huge difference, if you have one. This device has feed dogs on the presser foot, allowing both the top and bottom layers of fabric to be grabbed and pulled along at the same rate.
Use these 4 tips and enjoy handmade baby quilts using minky fabric.