Quilter's Cotton for Clothing?

Yes, we have all seen the cute little girl's dresses and simple shift style dresses and tunic tops for adults made from "quilter's cotton". They look really cute on the pattern covers or on the mannequin in the store but is that fabric really suitable for garments?  

Well, let's first define "quilter's cotton". It doesn't really have an official definition, rather it is a term that has been organically derived by the popularity of quilt makers and quilt shops alike. Quilter's that are at the top of their craft know that a firmly woven strong quality cotton fabric makes a very nice and long lasting quilt. Sounds like a great fabric to use for almost anything if firmly woven and strong were the only two criteria. When making a garment, one must consider the "drape" of the fabric and here is where it can all go wrong.

Let's take a short sleeve shirt, like a resort style you might see in Hawaii. At first glance in the quilt shop you see dozens and dozens of prints that would be beautiful made into an island resort style shirt. When the quality quilter's cotton is applied the shirt has a life of its own and not in a good way. After being stitched into a shirt the fabric will stand out from the body, and is stiff with sleeves that want to stick straight out from the shoulders instead of draping down following the lines of the body. A shirt like this is not comfortable and only looks good on the hanger.  

When the same quilter's cotton is applied to a child's ruffled dress or play suit it has the same attributes as the shirt but one additional problem will arise. All those ruffles will wrinkle when washed and sometimes even curl inward causing an unpleasant and very messy look. Now try to iron all those little tiny ruffles.., you get the picture.  

Just because it's found in a quilt shop does not mean its quilter's cotton. Many quilt shops will carry garment suitable fabrics like, Pima or Lawn. These are softer and have a nice drape that not only makes them garment friendly fabric but they are far more comfortable to wear and easier to maintain.