Originally Posted by galvestonangel
My LQS also rips the fabric. I think you lose less that way then you do having to get a cut piece straight on grain. They also taught me, if selvages did not match, pull at opposing corners long ways. The direction/cornors you pull determines how the fabric goes, sometimes I have to go back and pull the other way. Maybe someone can explain this better than I did.
Welll.........................
yes and no.
A bit about fabric and fabric finishes and how that affects grain line, and tearability and straightening the grain.
In the old days you would tear most fabrics because they were natural fibers. And the spinning/weaving was not as tight and automated as it is today. Tearing to find grain, and tugging the diagonally opposite corners to make the warp and weft be at 90° to each other were the standard.
With advances in technology and more automated production of fabric came some changes. Among those changes was something we all may remember called "Permanent Press". It was amazing, you could wash shirts/dresses/etc., dry them and didn't need to spend hours sprinkling with water, and ironing clothes!!! Part of this was due to the invention of polyester fibers, and part because of finishes put on the fabric or garment. Pleats in ready-to-wear would stay pleated (this was a finish applied and set after the garment was done so the pleats would be permanent) and so on. Wonderful.
Home sewists wanted the same thing. We wanted to make clothes and not have to iron them all the time. But many of the "PPress" finishes were completed or set after the garment was constructed and required equipment/chemicals not available to home sewists.
So new finishes were developed. (And since "Perma-Press" really wasn't as "permanent" as it was hoped it would be) changes had to be made somewhere. Basically fabrics and clothes started being labeled "non-wrinkle finish". And yardage could be treated to be "non-wrinkle" or "wrinkle ease" and so on. Even 100% cotton could be. Hurray. Not as much ironing needed at all.
However, there were some trade-offs.
Trade-off number one: the grain of the fabric as it is at the time the "non-wrinkle" finish is applied/finished is the grain the fabric will return to when washed. Even if you tear, tug and straighten the grain, when it is washed it will return to however it was when it was set.
Trade-off number two: tearing to find straight of grain becomes more difficult. Because of the finish, it is more difficult to tear the fabric along the grain. (I have even had fabric tear with an "L" shaped tear across the fabric. Both lengthwise and crosswise.)
There are more reasons tearing isn't as easy too. The yarns/threads that make up the fabric are spun more tightly. Which makes them stronger and less easy to tear. And the weaving is also generally, tighter. Think of the difference between homespun and batik fabric. Homespun is loose, made with yarns that are looser spun and therefore will tear more easily. Batiks are very tightly spun and woven and are very difficult to tear.
In addition to all the above, tearing does "bruise" the fabric, and can cause pulls that can really show up in a fabric motif. I have had problems as far away from the torn edge as 3" or more. And the stretched out edge is always between a quarter and half an inch at least.
So, I am among the non-tearers. Even though I learned early to do the whole tear/straighten bit. Fabric has changed, so I have too. <G>
If in doubt wash your fabric, dry it and press it. The way the grain is when it is washed is the way it will always return to when washed.
Sorry this was so long..... somebody hit a button. <G>
Pati, in Phx