Warning about fabric shrinkage on a custom linen blazer

I just finished a linen blazer for a client and the shrinkage was a nightmare. I pre-washed the fabric like always, but after the final steam press, the sleeves shrank a full inch! I had to completely re-cut and re-set them, which added 12 hours to my timeline. The project was supposed to take a week and ended up taking almost two. Has anyone else had linen shrink that much after construction? What's your go-to method to stop it?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.ben20d ago

12 hours to redo the sleeves" seems like a lot. Was the fabric that bad, or maybe the steam was just way too hot?

corap2119d agoMost Upvoted

Hold up, twelve whole hours just for sleeves? That feels like a story is missing. Unless he was working with tissue paper or accidentally melted actual plastic into the fabric, how does a simple redo eat up half a day? Maybe the first attempt was just that messed up, or there's some serious over-explaining going on.

nguyen.angela19d ago

Maybe he steamed the whole mannequin too.