To pre-wash, or not to pre-wash?

[delladea]

Everyone seems to have their own views on when prewashing is appropriate. I was taught to always, always pre-wash my fabric lest I anger the sewing gods and end up with unpredictable shrinkage and bleeding on first wash. The majority of my sewing experience has been with quilter's cotton, shirting, and reclaimed t-shirt knits.

I have this bag pattern and I have a few yards of thick, dark denim from my stash that I want to use for this bag. I've never ever used brand new denim fabric before and am afraid if I wash it first I may end up with light streaks through the fabric. Not sure if its relevant, but I'm also planning to hand-embroider a design on the outside flap.

So, what would you do in this situation? TIA!

Edit: Thank you to everyone who commented. I confess to having a bad experience washing some dark, unfaded jeans once that left streaks all over the legs which left me leery. I decided to give pre-washing a go with some other dark denim items. :)

Comments

[greenwitch]

I would, personally. I always pre-wash everything for apparel, but not always for accessories, since they're less likely to need to be washed in general. However, since it's a diaper bag, the chances of something being spilled on it are higher than say, a handbag would be, so it's probably going to be machine washed at some point.

[delladea]

Good point about this bag being more likely to get messy.

I think I'm leaning toward pre-washing it now, maybe not the whole length of what I have but a piece just big enough for the bag with a couple pairs of jeans thrown in.