Does khaddar shrink? What to allow for

Why a thick, loose cloth moves more

Shrinkage in cotton is mostly the cloth relaxing. On the loom, and again when the fabric is stretched flat and dried at the mill, the yarns are held under tension. The first time the cloth is soaked, the cotton fibres swell, the tension lets go and the yarns settle into a wavier path over and under each other. The cloth ends up slightly thicker and slightly smaller.

Khaddar gives that process more room. Its yarns are thick and softly spun, and they are not packed as closely as the fine yarns in lawn, so there is more slack to take up when they relax. The lengthwise yarns carry the most tension during weaving, which is why length is lost before width. Hand-spun, handwoven cloth, where a label really does confirm it, can move more again. Lawn shrinks for the same reason, but its fine, tightly spun, closely set yarns have less room to shift.

Where it shows on a finished suit

• Kameez length: the hem rises, which is most obvious on a long kameez cut to a precise point on the leg.
• Sleeves: a full sleeve that ended at the wrist bone now sits above it.
• Trousers and shalwars: the ankle creeps up, and a shalwar loses a little of its depth.
• Lining: a polyester lining does not shrink with a cotton outer layer, so it can sag below the hem or bubble inside.
• Embroidery and trims: thread, lace and piping do not shrink with the cloth, so the fabric around them puckers.
• Close cuts: the width changes less, but a kameez cut close across the bust or upper arm will feel it.

What to allow for before cutting

There are two sound ways to deal with it, and one thing to avoid.

• Wash it first. If the label allows washing, pre-wash the plain pieces the way you will wash the finished suit, so the shrinkage happens before the scissors do. Leave embroidered panels alone. Our pre-washing guide covers the method.
• Or build in an allowance. If the fabric is going to be cut unwashed, say so. A little extra length at the hem, sleeve and trouser, with a deeper turn-up that can be let down, absorbs the first wash.
• Do not mix washed and unwashed. A washed kameez piece with an unwashed trouser piece, or an unwashed cotton lining inside a washed outer layer, will change by different amounts.

After the first wash

Most of the movement happens in the first wash or two. After that khaddar is fairly settled, provided it is treated gently. Heat is what restarts shrinkage, so hot water and a hot tumble dryer can take a little more out of a suit that seemed stable. Our drying guide explains why the dryer does the most damage.

A freshly washed khaddar suit can also feel tighter than it really is, because the damp, relaxed cloth has not yet been pressed. Ironing it while slightly damp eases a little of the length back.

Telling us what you have

With Stitching Only, tell us for each piece whether it has been washed, and send a photo of the label so we can see the composition. If it has not been washed, how shrinkage is allowed for is agreed in writing before cutting. You can start a Stitching Only quote here. If you are buying khaddar by the metre for a long kameez, a little extra length is worth having for the same reason, and our guide to checking you have enough fabric shows how to measure what is left after washing.