Boston1954

I had heard from someone here, that it can stress the fabric as much as two inches away from the tear.

jljack

Oh, Queen!!! I had forgotten all about that little tool in the fabric shops....it had a dial on the top that moved like a clock as they pulled the fabric through, and then the little cutter mechanism that made the notch to tear the fabric. WOW!! I would never have remembered that!!! I recently was at a quilt show where a vendor was tearing the fabric she sold. I was fascinated, and she said that's the only way she knows the fabric is straight on grain, and she would never do it another way.

jljack

OK, here's a very interesting discussion on this topic. The clerks at a BERNINA store tear their fabric.

http://potlikker.typepad.com/bekka/2...ng-fabric.html

Scissor Queen

My mom made most of our dresses when we were young and she shopped at Ben Franklin's most of the time for fabric and they used that thing. I'll always remember the way it sounded when the clerk pulled the fabric thru it and then tearing the fabric.

I have lost as much as 4 inches off a piece of fabric because it was so off grain on the bolt.

jljack

Yes, I have had two yards of fabric turn into 1.75 yards due to bad wrapping on the bolt and bad cutting!!! It ends up so crooked, I had to cut off both ends to straighten the middle....BOO!!!

annettesews

Just a note/comment. fabrics are wet printed today and are NOT printed straight on the grain of fabric. I don't tear as I found years ago that in the process of tearing it does distort"damage" the grain for several inches from tear. With Rotary cutters we can use our wonderful runlers and get very accurate cuts. I too remember having fabric measured and torn, but then took it home and had to straighten it out before cutting. Annette Annettesews

Scissor Queen

Yes, with rotary cutters you can get a very straight cut. It may or may not be on grain though. Fabric is wound on full width tubes after being processed. Then a person loads the tube on to a machine and takes the fabric end and folds it in half and starts it on the bolt. If that person doesn't get the ends exactly straight it'll wind on the bolt crooked.

Baywatch quilter

I always tear my borders... I like my borders to come from the length of fabric so there is absolutely no stretch and it keeps my quilts flat. It's important to tear and sew immediately, however, because it is easy to ravel a torn piece... since I learned this trick, I no longer have 90 inch long borders that aren't perfectly straight.

shaverg

No absolutely not, it does not weaken the fabric. This is from someone that has been tearing for 28 years it is great. I still tear all my large pieces for my quilts, my borders my backs and sometimes large blocks, no stretching, nor distortion, yes a little fraying, but It is always an exact measurment. I have found quilters that have only known cutting cannot stand the thought of tearing. The first thing I do when I get a piece of fabric home is straighten by tearing. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten a piece of fabric home where they have used a rotary cutter or scissors and it so off I lose over 6 inches., especially if it has a pattern. And the stores because they use rulers and rotary cutters think they are so exact, you are lucky if they give you 2 inches extra.

Just don't rippppppppppp, tear gently and slowly.

Minnie

I remember that....LOL