Jane Quilter

The LQS justify the rip because it guarantees the "cut" is on the straight of grain. But in quilting, it does not matter because we all cut and use bias and off grain cuts. Also the fabric is so tightly woven, you can often not pull it into square anyway. Lastly, the manufactures often sloppily print on not straight of grain, and if you straighten it, your print will be off (this should not ever happen in expensive fabric that we are buying, but often does in cheap fabric.

That said, when you make draperies, you MUST always straighten the grain, because what you don't pull to straighten, will slowly "hang out to square" over time on the rod. But grain straightening, in the fabric as well as the lining is always done by "pull a thread crosswise and cutting with scissors along the pull" to avoid the rip distortion and frayed edge. In dressmaking, you should straighten the grain too, to avoid uneven "draping" of skirts and garments.

The only time I straighten the grain in quiltmaking, is on the boarders, if I am going to wall hang it, for the same reason, to protect the drape, although it is highly unlikely it can hang out to square AFTER it is sandwiched to a backing and batting and quilted to turn it into basically one cloth. So I am probably wasting my time.

None of this info helps you in a LQS. You can ask them not to rip, but they probably won't do it, because they want to be "consistent" rather than provided good customer service and do as you ask. But it doesn't hurt to ask them. Poor customer service always results in you having a story to tell many friends, and hurts their business.

Sorry to be so long winded. Hope this helps you

Jan in VA

There is a reason I don't buy fabric from shops that rip and it occurred to me when I saw a friend at her beautiful large sit-down hand weaving loom. When the loom is "dressed", the strongest threads run up and down (or north and south as you are seated), and the weaker threads are the ones attached to the shuttle which then are worked in between the up and down threads.
Ripping causes the main threads the pull apart with resistance which causes bruising. This bruising can vary from fabric to fabric and can stress the fabric as much as 6 inches into the yardage. When I lived in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s I actually knew of a couple of well known quilters whose winning quilts had been ruined when the bruising showed up in their quilts after handling and hanging.

Jan in VA

ManiacQuilter2

I dislike when they rip fabric. QIAD use to rip but I think they are back to cutting. Straight of grain is straight when it is put on the bolt and it is just not worth trying to change it unless the fabric is wonky.

grammy of 6

I recently purchased fabric from Jenny Beyer, who rips fabric. All of the fabric I received was short, and by the time I cut off the damaged material, I will not have enough fabric to complete my project. I emailed them and all they said was that the next time I order I should mention the problem I had this time. Needless to say, I will not be ordering from them again, which is sad, because I love their prints! I was surprised with their customer service, or lack thereof.

stitch678

Ripping is "old school", and was taught in many a home ec class of the 60's. l used to rip my border fabrics lengthwise when l first started to quilt 30+ yr. ago. l ironed the puckered/frayed edges & hid them in the seam allowance. But ripping crossways causes all kinds of problems. ln short, l would ask the clerk at the store if they rip or cut...and state my preference ahead of time.

Misty's Mom

Remember, too, when in 4-H, we'd also have to cut a short bit and pull one of the crosswise threads to get the fabric straight, then cut along the line the pulled thread left?

feline fanatic

To the OP's original question about the edges being so far off once she straightens the fold to make her first cut.... It is all dependent on how the fabric is folded on the bolt (done at the manufacturer). I have had situations where I have lost as much as 2" once I straighten things out and I have had situations where it was as little as 1/4". This is on cut fabric. I order most of my fabric on line and it seems they all cut. I have not gotten any that was ripped, even wide backs. I will rip LOF for borders unless it is a border print, then I will cut following the print. I will also rip wide back as long as I know I have plenty of extra.

DawnFurlong

All very interesting info. I think I am most bothered by the distortion of fabric along the ripped edges (sometimes several inches in). I can iron it out, cut it off. But sometimes that is more fabric than it need be, and fabric is expensive at LQS's!.

I have not had problems with my fabrics that were cut and not ripped prior to this store (first store to rip, I have been quilting for a good 12 or 13 years now). So I think I would prefer them to cut it. I will have to ask them the next time if they can cut it. If they want to give me a good 6 inches more fabric to compensate for those distorted edges, I could live with that. But I don't think they are going to want to give me that much extra!

I had one fabric in this last batch where I barely had enough for my pieces. I just eeked it out, having just a little bit of that distortion in my cut (it will be caught up in the seam allowance). It was the same amount of fabric as the other 6 colors, and I had enough on the other 6, which a few inches to spare. I was NOT happy with that. Fabric is too expensive to lose that much through ripping.

GailG

I'm also from the era of straightening the grain by pulling cross corners. To find the straight crosswise grain we first pulled a thread out across and then used that line as our straight crosswise grain. That was before the perma-press process to fabrics.

I do tear my fabrics when I want to have straight lengthwise-grain borders. I steam press (not iron) the edges.

rryder

I think the bruising that Jan is talking about is caused by the stretching that can be introduced when ripping along the cross grain. In hand weaving it is true that sometimes the warp threads (the long straight of grain threads, the ones mounted on the loom) are stronger than the weft threads. For instance, in rug making this is usually the case. However, it depends on the type of cloth being woven, what it's purpose or end use will be, and what type of weave the weaver is doing. I spent many years weaving and often wove fabrics in which the warp and weft used exactly the same threads.

For commercially woven, quilting cottons, the warp and weft threads are not likely to be different in terms of strength. However, if you will pull on your fabric in the lengthwise (parallel to the selvage) and crosswise, you will note that there is more stretch in the crosswise. This is due to the fact that those threads are not stretched as tightly during the weaving process as are the warp threads which are under tension on the loom. The fact that the weft threads are not under tension when they are woven is what causes distortion when tearing across the grain.

Tearing with the grain (lengthwise, parallel to the selvage) should not cause any fabric distortion if using all cotton fabric and if the weave structure is what is known as a "balanced weave". Other kinds of weave structures can cause distortion when tearing with the grain.

Rob


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