Help with cross-grain cutting?
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: playing with fabric in Louisiana
Posts: 3,246
Am I the only one who rips then irons to get the grain right? I am kin of surprised that so many people are using the described technique. Maybe I will give it a try. I am such a bugger about straight of grain! I think that a straight grain helps in reducing the ravel in the seam allowances.
#22
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Ripping damages fabric up to 2" from the rip. This damage may not be visible to the eye, but it is clear under a microscope. The damage is less when ripping on the lengthwise grain, more when ripping on the crosswise grain. This is one reason why I don't rip quilting fabric (except occasionally long border strips or backing fabric).
#23
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,383
To be honest, I don't care that much about grain, except when I'm working with bias. As long as your ruler is exactly perpendicular to the fold, your fabric will not have a V cut, no matter which direction the grain is going.
#25
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 125
Thanks so much for everyone's help -- a few new/different approaches to try! I've only tried the "hold fabric by selvages and slide/wiggle selvages until it hangs without twist or wrinkle" method, but that's how I get my "V" cuts despite my best efforts. It just seems so imprecise to me. I'll see if I can do better with your suggestions,
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Central NJ
Posts: 5,570
Am I the only one who rips then irons to get the grain right? I am kin of surprised that so many people are using the described technique. Maybe I will give it a try. I am such a bugger about straight of grain! I think that a straight grain helps in reducing the ravel in the seam allowances.
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Horse Country, FL
Posts: 7,341
Am I the only one who rips then irons to get the grain right? I am kin of surprised that so many people are using the described technique. Maybe I will give it a try. I am such a bugger about straight of grain! I think that a straight grain helps in reducing the ravel in the seam allowances.
#29
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Thanks so much for everyone's help -- a few new/different approaches to try! I've only tried the "hold fabric by selvages and slide/wiggle selvages until it hangs without twist or wrinkle" method, but that's how I get my "V" cuts despite my best efforts. It just seems so imprecise to me. I'll see if I can do better with your suggestions,
The *only* thing that matters when cutting strips is making sure that your ruler is positioned *exactly* 90 degrees from the fold. Your fabric can be folded on the straight of grain, off the straight of grain, even folded at true bias -- and you can still cut perfectly straight strips. Wiggling selvages together makes no difference.
Practice with pieces of typing paper. Fold the paper any way you like -- exactly in half, at weird angles, whatever. Then cut strips from the folded paper. Notice how, the more tilted the ruler is from the fold, the deeper the "V". The entire trick to getting straight cuts from folded fabric is the positioning of your ruler in relation to the fold. This applies even to the Accuquilt die cutter. In order to achieve strips without a "V", you must position the fold of the fabric accurately in relation to the cutting edges.
Last edited by Prism99; 10-21-2016 at 10:21 AM.
#30
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
If you have a scrap of fabric, you might want to try cutting strips on both the grain and the bias, then compare the amount of raveling you get. (I'd do this myself, but I'm too lazy! )
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