Using 108" quilt backings to make a garment muslin

Muslin made with a white-on-white
108" wide quilt backing by Blank Quilting.

If you sew clothes or make wearable art pieces for yourself, chances are you make a toile or a muslin—a mock-up of the garment—from the pattern before cutting into your "good fabric." If you're going to spend the time and effort sewing a garment for yourself, you want it to fit your body properly, right?

I recently took the Sewing: the Art of Making workshop with Diane Hall, master seamstress and former pattern maker for Alabama Chanin. In the workshop, all the class participants made a sloper with their measurements and then made muslins of their projects to insure proper size and fit before committing to the fashion fabric.

Generally, inexpensive muslin or cotton calico is used for making a muslin (thus the name, "muslin"). However, have you thought about using a 108" wide quilt backing for this process?

I took a piece of 108" wide white-on-white quilt backing (about 1.5 yards) to the workshop. From this yardage, I made a sloper (top, skirt and a long sleeve), and muslins for a short sleeve blouse, pants and a long, paneled vest with princess seams. Working with a 108" width of fabric (vs. 44/45" width) was very efficient for laying out pattern pieces and there was very little waste. I got a lot of bang for my buck!

My muslin had white dragonflies on it.

Helpful tips for choosing fabric for a muslin:

• Choose a light colored fabric. When you draw fitting marks, adjustment lines and notations on the fabric, the marks are easily seen.
• The fabric for the muslin should be similar in weight to the fashion fabric. We used woven fabrics for the projects in the workshop, so a cotton 108" wide quilt backing worked well. You'd want to use a knit fabric for a muslin if your final garment was going to be in a knit fabric.
• Make sure the muslin fabric is on grain when laying out the pattern pieces. Some quilt shops will tear wide quilt backing fabric to insure the cut piece is on grain. Because of the way this extra-wide 108" fabric is doubled and rolled and wrapped around a cardboard bolt core, the fabric can be slightly stretched on the bolt. (It's just the nature of the mechanical wrapping process.) 

So, the next time you get ready to make a garment from a new pattern, check your stash or visit your local quilt shop for a piece of wide quilt backing. It's a great option for making the all-important muslin. After all, you want your finished project to fit, right? 

For more info about making a muslin or a sloper, here are links to a few good resources.
From Tilly and the Buttons: How to make a muslin
From Threads magazine: The Merits of a Basic Fitting Pattern
From Burda Style: Toile Anyone?
From Craftsy: How to make a sloper

Guest blogging at Fort Worth Fabric Studio today

It's always a cool thing when someone sees your work and expresses an interest in what you're doing or what you have to say. A few weeks ago, Lindsey, the Blog Manager and Pattern Designer at Fort Worth Fabric Studio found my content online and invited me to be a guest blogger. Today is my day... I'll be a guest at the Fort Worth Fabric Studio blog, talking about a quilting topic that I am very passionate about: 108" wide quilt backings. Hop over and share the spotlight with me. I'll be discussing why quilters should Go Wide!

108" wide quilt backings: Have you done the math?

On my recent fabric rep travels, the topic of 108" wide quilt backings came up several times in conversation. For the most part, shop owners indicate their customer base falls into three camps:

• "I love using a wide back for my quilts because…" 
• "Oooh! It's how much a yard??"
• "Wide whats?"

Westrade Textiles offer 110" wide backings.

Since discovering wide backings a few years ago myself, and doing a presentation for a local machine quilters group, I have become enlightened on the ease, beauty, and efficiency—as well as the cost effectiveness—of using a wide fabric for the backing on my quilts. Because of my affinity for these 108" or 110" fabrics, I've been asked to write a guest blog post on the Fort Worth Fabric Studio blog—click here to read it. Another guest blog post is here but the photo links are broken.

One of my reasons du jour for liking wide backs is that there is no distracting seam line to interfere with the flow, harmony and continuity of the quilting design on the back. If you peruse my blog archives, you'll notice I use a lot of wide backings in the photos of my free-motion quilting. Here is one example.

Free-motion quilting on Sparkle 108" (color: java).

See what I mean? No distracting seam line.

For those that are already "sold" on wide backings (Camp #1), thanks for tooting the wide back horn! You and quilters like you have contributed ideas to my "Using 108" Wide Quilt Backs" page.

For those who are muttering "Wide whats?" to themselves (Camp #3), I invite you to read this same page to learn more about the whys and wherefores of using wide backings. Also talk to the good folks at YLQS [your local quilt shop] or your longarm quilting service provider. Or bring up the topic up with your quilting buddies or at the next guild meeting. All these quilters will happily offer their insights.

And to those in the "Oooh. They cost how much?" camp (Camp #2), let's review a little wide back math…

Wide Back Math

For a yard of 108" wide backing fabric there are: 108" x 36" = 3888 sq. in.

For a yard 44/45" fabric there are: 44" x 36" = 1584 sq. in.

A 108" wide backing at $17.99/yard ÷ 3888 sq. in. = $.0046 per sq. in.

A 44/45" fabric at $11.50/yard ÷ 1584 sq. in. = $.0072 per sq. in.

Another way to look at this…
Imagine a full size quilt top that's 70" x 90". You'll need a backing that is 80" x 100" (adding 5" extra all around).

108" wide back: 2.25 yards x $17.99/yard = $40.47

44/45" fabric: 5.75 yards x $11.50/yard = $66.13

$66.13 - $40.47 = $27.21    Savings = $25.66

or almost 2.25 extra yards of 44/45" fabric!

Fabric costs in your area may vary, but all things being equal, you will find a savings using a wide backing on your quilt. In this example, you'd have to find a 44/45" fabric ON SALE at 40% off, or $7/yard to break even… but you'd still have to piece the back. How much is your time worth?

If you'd like to see layout diagrams for various quilt sizes on a wide backing, visit Brenda's 2013 blogpost, "All About 108" Wide Backing Fabric for Quilts" at Just a Bit Frayed blog.

So, Attention Quilters! Unless you are piecing your quilt back for a reason, investigate those 108" wide backing fabrics at YLQS. You could save yourself a nice chunk of cash! Leave a Comment and let me know what kinds of patterns/prints/colors you like to use for quilt backings and I'll pass along your requests to my companies.

In the case of quilting, going wide can be a thing of beauty… and good economics.