Just got to thinking
#1
Super Member
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,657
Just got to thinking
When I was growing up, I was always told to either clip or remove the selvages from the fabric because when it was washed the selvages would shrink and draw up. Now, a really bunch of years later, I'm wondering that if we prewash the fabric and the selvage doesn't shrink or draw up, why are we still removing them? I think I'm missing something and an still removing them, but not sure why.
#2
Because now it is a habit?? I prefer to leave the selvage on so that I have the manufacturer and fabric line names. I often seem to need 'just a bit more'.
My mother was a seamstress (I didn't have a 'bought' dress until I was 16) and she always removed the selvage before she folded and laid out her pattern.
My mother was a seamstress (I didn't have a 'bought' dress until I was 16) and she always removed the selvage before she folded and laid out her pattern.
#4
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: jacksonville bch
Posts: 2,069
I was told that the selvages didn't shrink, and your dress or whatever you made would not fit correctly. I've found out that with quilting the selvages don't give, and some long armers don't like the selvages left on if you seam the backing. Who knows what is correct anymore. When you sewed dresses or shirts you used a5/8" seam, now when making a quilt its only 1/4" seam. LOL
#5
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: dallas tx.
Posts: 5,172
I've always heard that a selvage has many more threads in it and also may have different thread in them than is in the rest of the fabric. I don't know if that is true or not about the different threads.
#7
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,538
I make sure the selvages are cut off from my piecing. I sometimes leave the selvage on the last side borders until I am ready to do the binding on a quilt. It keeps the edges from fraying. The selvages do shrink at a different rate and they have a different texture than the main fabric.
#8
While I don't include the selvage edge in any of my quilts, I do keep the selvage on for as long as possible because it keeps at least one side of the fabric from raveling. Another reason to keep the selvage intact while that fabric is still in your stash is that it is printed with all the information you need to go in search of that fabric at a later date if you need more. I speak from experience!
Last edited by Terri D.; 05-12-2014 at 08:29 PM.
#9
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 290
I do not remove the selvage when I purchase fabric. I will save a sample of fabric with one complete printing of the info that I can take with me if needing to match the fabric or pick out another fabric for a project. I also like to keep a fabric journal where I record information about new fabric in my stash. I list the name of fabric, how much I purchased, what the fabric is made of, the price and where I bought it. I also list the pattern or project it was purchased for and source.
I find it fun to follow the fabric from purchase to completion of the project. Many times this info helps me decide if I want to use the fabric for things I want to sell and what to charge.
I find it fun to follow the fabric from purchase to completion of the project. Many times this info helps me decide if I want to use the fabric for things I want to sell and what to charge.
#10
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 12,861
salvages are still removed because they are woven tighter than the body of the fabric- look differently, sew differently. you can always cut them off and save them for one of the popular (salvages projects) I generally cut mine at 1" widths and toss them into my rug hooking basket- then either use them for a rug or to wrap clothesline for a new basket project. people use them to make purses and even quilts/quilted projects.
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