So!  My friend Lora over at It’s The Dogs Life is always pushing er… encouraging me  to try new things.. so she sent me so BEAUTIFUL brocade fabric to make a few collars for her dogs.

I love this stuff!  I’ve wanted to make collars out of it for a while, but admittedly, I’ve been gun shy…

I always prewash my fabrics.  It solves a lot of problems later.  So I tossed the brocade in with some other fabrics that needed a spin and went with the shortest cycle since my machine doesn’t have a gentle cycle.

This little voice in my head says “maybe you should pink those edges on the brocade… or zig zag around them or at least  put the brocade in a lingerie bag.”.. but nooooo…

What came out was a giant tangled mess.  Oh my gawd..  it took me 10 minutes to carefully trim all the fraying edges away from each other… I was so afraid I’d snip the fabric.

Behold… the blob of remains.

The Brocade that Ate Manhattan

Fortunately, I saved the fabric.. I still have plenty to work with.. I lost about 1/2 an inch on either edge..
Lesson learned, huh?