Thread: Help needed with fabric raveling

My best guess would be that you are not starching stiff enough. I have very little raveling when I piece my tops. And when I press the seams they are really flat. I use Sta-Flo starch mixed half with water. I buy it at Walmart and I should own stock in the company. I dampen all my fabric (if there is yardage I put it in on a rinse cycle in the washing machine). Before it has time to dry I spray it with the Sta-Flo and allow it to dry. Then I press it. Believe it or not I have very little reveling. Then cut out your pieces, I think you will be amazed with you end results.

I use a lot of different manufacturers fabrics and have found that each one can have an "off" fabric. There was a short time that some high end Moda's raveled if you looked at them. I did one simple quilt and was not sure it would even last to be quilted let alone washed. I just had one neutral print that was very touchy and raveled but not as much as that bad Moda batch.

Now I can tell a lot by feel. Thin and soft when right off the bolt high end fabrics are most often the culprits because their thread count can be very low. Using sizing and starch can help but trying to stick with sturdier fabric is best. Being easy and kind to your fabrics and pieces is also necessary. No pulling, stretching, putting away pieces in a messy way, constant ironing, and excessive handling can also ravel edges. Cut, pin and sew with as little manipulation as possible.

I've had that problem with solids no matter who the manufacturer, but not with prints. I don't what the solution is except to use a smaller stitch length to make the seam hold nicely.

I've noticed when quilting that the solids seem to ravel more. As far as rotary pinking--be careful--those blades really do a number on your mat (unfortunately learned the hard way!).

I agree with Vat that heavily starching the fabric is probably your best bet. Pinking does help, but it's not a complete deterrent to fraying.

Unfortunately, I've found that the handling involved in trimming, trimming, trimming those straggly threads actually just makes the fabric unravel more. Unless they are really getting caught up in my seams or are getting knotted in my machine or something, I try to just leave them be & then do one trim immediately before layering my quilt sandwich. Hard to ignore them, but it seems to help.