Originally Posted by Kristin in ME
Trying to understand this- so, for instance, when I make the backing for my quilt, instead of cutting, cutting, cutting with my rotary cutter, I could just rip the whole thing down the length of it?? I understand that it would rip along the thread line, I'd just be so worried that I'd be distorting the fabric by stretching it...
I never even heard of ripping fabric- I'm already learning so much on this board!
You sure could! I've ripped both across the selvedge grain and along it, and both ways are perfectly safe and don't distort the fabric. There's a bit of stretching and fraying right next to the ripped area for about a half-inch, but the rest of the fabric is unharmed. You do want to avoid ripping narrow strips (like less than 2" ), because they could just tear off. Anything else is fine, though. I'll rip a bit wider than the size I need for long strips, then just trim off the frayed part.
Fabric rips much easier than you'd think. Once you get it started (a little snip with the scissors is enough), it rips almost as easily as paper. You may still need to straighten the grain, but it has nothing to do with being distorted from ripping; it was distorted to begin with, which is *why* you rip--so you can *find* the grain and straighten it. Once you get your grainline, just tug the fabric along the bias to line it up properly (you might need some practice to get the hang of it). Once the fabric is squared up, it'll be much easier to work with and you'll have an easier time getting accurate cuts.