Originally Posted by Maggiesmom
Have you ever bought a yard of fabric that had been cut for you and taken it home only to find it to be terribly crooked? Snip it, tear it and you will find that you really don't have a yard of fabric. I don't know how many half yards I have had cut that end up maybe only 15-16 full inches wide across the 42+ inches. My mother was a terrific seamstress. She always tore her fabric to get it straight before she cut out a pattern. That's what they did in the "olden" days.
Then I must be getting old - before I start to cut, after my fabrics are ripped and then washed, I press the pieces so I can line them up and have them exact. That is the way that I was 'trained' and the way I do it. And I do it with just about everything. When I buy, I always buy a couple of inches extra - usually by rounding up to the next quarter. That is one reason that I LOVE Connecting Threads fabrics - their yards are 37". :thumbup: :thumbup:
I don't usually 'tear first - wash second - iron third' the pieces that are under half a yard. I will usually pull a thread to get them even. I HATE when you cut a strip and it has a bend in the middle. HATE IT!!!! So I tear/wash/iron. Makes it an easier person to deal with. :lol: :lol: :lol: