Flannel Quilt Fabric

Cotton Flannel for Quilts, Backings and Cozy Projects

Flannel is quilting cotton that has been brushed, run against fine wire brushes until the surface fibers lift and fluff. Same fiber, same weave, entirely different hand. That brushing is what makes it soft, what makes it warm, and what makes it behave differently under the needle.

Quilters reach for it for a particular set of projects: winter and holiday quilts, baby quilts, rag quilts, and backings for quilts meant to be lived under rather than looked at. It adds warmth without a heavier batting, and it stays on a lap instead of sliding off.

You will find flannel here in plaids and checks, holiday and winter prints, collegiate logo prints, brushed tonals and textures, and solids, in standard 42 to 44 inch yardage and in 108 inch wide backing, cut by the yard.

Flannel Shrinks. Plan for It.

This is the one thing to know before you cut. Flannel shrinks noticeably more than standard quilting cotton, commonly three to five percent and more on a loosely woven piece. Across three yards that is four or five inches simply gone.

So prewash it, and prewash all of it, including the backing, the way you intend to launder the finished quilt. Whatever shrinking is going to happen should happen before your seams are in it. If you are mixing flannel with unwashed quilting cotton in the same top, prewash both, or the flannel will draw up around the cotton and pull the quilt out of square. Buying about ten percent more than the pattern calls for covers the loss.

Sewing With Flannel

Flannel is woven more loosely than quilting cotton, and the brushing softens it further, so it stretches on the bias and grows while you handle it. None of that is a problem once you slow down for it. Handle cut pieces by the whole piece, not by one corner. Flannel remembers being pulled.

Press with a light starch or sizing before cutting, and use a fresh rotary blade, because a dull one drags fuzzy edges. Lengthen your stitch to around 2.5 or 3.0 millimeters, pin more than feels necessary on long seams, and let a walking foot do the feeding. Press rather than iron: lift and set the iron down instead of sliding it, which is what pulls a flannel seam out of true.

Flannel also lints, generously, into your bobbin case, your feed dogs and the floor around your chair. Clean the machine more often than a flannel project seems to deserve.

Flannel as a Quilt Backing

A flannel back is what turns an ordinary quilt into the one everybody in the house fights over. Our 108 inch wide flannel backs a bed quilt in one seamless piece, with no center seam to line up, and our 3 yard flannel back packs cover a throw in a single cut.

Because flannel carries so much warmth on its own, many quilters drop to a low loft batting behind it, and some leave it out of a lap quilt altogether. Decide that before you buy, because it changes how the finished quilt drapes.

On a longarm, load flannel with even, unhurried tension, because it will stretch if you fight it. Quilting also sinks into the nap and shows less than it would on a smooth cotton, which is worth knowing when you choose thread and prewound bobbins.

Shop Flannel Fabric at Quilted Joy

Quilted Joy is a destination quilt shop and skill-building studio in Louisville, Kentucky, serving quilters in our shop and across the country.

Our Quilt Fairies spend their days on exactly this kind of question: whether the flannel you are holding will play nicely with the cotton already in your project, how much to add for shrinkage, and what batting belongs behind it. Tell us what you are making and we will help you work it out.

Browse the collection and compare the plaids against the prints. Our plaid and check fabrics and Christmas and winter fabric are the natural next stop, and all of our quilt fabric is there if the project is still taking shape.

Planning the back as well? Our wide quilt backing runs 108 inches across in both cotton and flannel, and our 3 yard quilt back packs come measured out for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Flannel Fabric

Do I need to prewash flannel fabric?

Yes. Flannel shrinks more than standard quilting cotton, so prewashing is the difference between a quilt that comes out of the first wash flat and one that comes out puckered and out of square. Wash and dry it the way you plan to launder the finished quilt.

How much does flannel shrink?

Usually three to five percent, and occasionally more on a loosely woven flannel. On a three yard cut that is roughly four to five inches of length. Buy about ten percent more than your pattern calls for, and measure again after prewashing rather than trusting the original yardage.

Can you mix flannel and regular quilting cotton in the same quilt?

You can, and plenty of good quilts do. Prewash everything so the shrinkage is already out of both fabrics, and accept that the flannel patches will sit slightly loftier than the cotton ones.

The failure mode is unwashed flannel beside unwashed cotton: after the first wash the flannel draws up, the cotton does not, and the quilt ripples along every seam between them.

What batting should I use with a flannel quilt?

Something low loft, or none at all. Flannel is warm on both faces, so a flannel top with a flannel back and an ordinary batting between them makes a very heavy quilt. A thin cotton batting is the usual choice, and many quilters skip it entirely on a lap quilt.

Is flannel good for baby quilts?

It is one of the best choices. Flannel is soft straight off the bolt, gets softer with washing, breathes better than fleece, and does not slither under the needle the way minky does. Prewash it, since baby quilts get washed constantly, and choose a tightly woven flannel so it wears well.

What is the difference between flannel, minky and fleece?

Flannel is woven cotton with a brushed surface, so it presses, pieces and quilts much like the cotton it is. Minky and cuddle and fleece are knit synthetics: stretchier, slipperier, warmer, and considerably more work to piece. If you want the softness without changing how you sew, flannel is the one that behaves.

Does flannel pill?

A little, especially in the first few washes. The brushed fibers that make it soft are the same ones that work loose. A quality quilting flannel pills far less than a bargain one, and washing in cool water and drying on low slows it down.

How wide is flannel fabric?

Standard flannel yardage runs about 42 to 44 inches wide, the same as quilting cotton. Flannel backing comes 108 to 110 inches wide, enough to back most bed quilts in one seamless piece. Both are cut by the yard here.

What needle should I use for flannel?

An 80/12 or 90/14 universal needle handles flannel comfortably, and freshness matters more than size, because a dull needle pushes fuzz into the seam instead of piercing it. Change it at the start of a flannel project, not the end.

Can Quilted Joy help me choose flannel?

Yes. Flannel is one of the fabrics where a second opinion pays for itself, because the questions are practical rather than aesthetic: how much to allow for shrinkage, what to put behind it, whether it will fight the cottons already in your quilt. Tell a Quilt Fairy what you are making and we will sort it out with you.