I made 75 square dancing dresses with ruffles on the bottom of the skirts. I tore ALL the ruffles, with no bad results. My trick was to clip the salvege edge at the beginning and also at the very end...got some distortion when trying to just rip past the edge. I did do a no-no after 10 dresses, I cut into the cut end about 6 inches deep every 8 inches across the width, had a friend help me to hold every other cut and we just walked away from each other. All ruffles had to be roll-hemmed and then ruffled, so this eliminated alot of cross seams! I never had an issue with ripping, do it for all borders/sashing over 2" wide! Never starch anything, don't like to iron before using the fabric and am a little lazy regarding all the prep work everyone does. I am, however, a perfectionist regard the final product, so it works for me! Linda