When your cutting your fabric's, do you cut the selvage off, BEFORE you cut???
Just wondering...
Thanks.

I cut my strips, then cut off selvedges as I cut pieces for my blocks.

I do it the same way....
sass

I do, too. That way the fabric that is not used doesn't fray on one or two sides. There is also the color matching dots and the name of the fabric and manufacturer on the selvage if you need it for future reference.

Ditto

Me too.

yes, I remove the selvages to WASH my fabric first!

if I really like the fabric I will cut off the salvage first so I have a small sample with the mfg name and pattern name for future reference

ditto to all the above. cut off later

Same here.

depends...If it's a fat quarter I cut off the selvedge if it's a large yardage I cut it off as I go.

No, I leave the salvage on and cut it off when I am ready to use the piece.

I always cut the salvege off first before I start cutting.

WHY? Can you explain to me why you cut off the selvage THEN wash? I can only imagine the mess of strings after the washer and dryer! I would get frusterated and toss the whole mess in the trash like I do an old gagged dog towel!

To answer the op question...I cut then off after strips have been cut but before subcuts!

Ditto me to :D

I cut as I go.

ditto

I see your ditto and X2 it. Any new antes?

Me too. I can find the up/down grain line that way.

Me too.

The very first class I took, the instructor said to cut the selvages before cutting, so they are not measured into the strips or cuts of fabric.

So I just wondered if anyone else had heard that..

I cut the selvage off along with 1 to 2" and make selvage scrappy quilts with them. My sister saves her selvages for me. They make good durable quilts for camping and kids. Selvages are tight weave and can handle loads of washing.

my personal rule is "don't cut until you need to"

I do the same as most - cut the selvage off after I start piecing.

What an awesome idea, I hated just tossing them.. I usually kept them until I was done with the quilt. Once I used them to make a label on the back..

Same here. :)

Me too, cut as I piece them. Like someone said, don't cut until I have to.

I wait to cut until I need to. There are times that you may just need that little bit to get your cuts right/have enough material and you're sewing just against the selvages inside edge and part of it actually ends up in our 1/4 inch.


Wow three Western Wa people in a row answering this post - what are the chances!!

I cut the selvages off first but I am collecting them to make a selvage quilt and don't want to have 2" pieces to work with.

It depends.

If I want to make something out of the salvage, then I cut it off first; otherwise, I cut it afterwards.

http://www.selvagequilts.com/

NAYY

I cut my strips then cut off the selevage.

I don't trim my salvedges until I start cutting out my strips/pieces needed for the quilt. I trim them off the strips when I start cutting the squares/pieces.

me too

I cut off selvages before I cut fabric. I save the selvages for a selvage only project I want to make, so I have to save a while to have enough selvages. I saw a selvage quilt a friend made at retreat and it was so cute! I want to try a small project first to see if I like it.

Ditto for me to above.

When I saw members of the board using two spellings for selvedge/selvage, I had to know which was correct and discovered that one is the British spelling and the other the American spelling. No better place than Wikipedia to find out more, so here is what I discovered. Based on this information and what has worked in the past for me, I will continue to leave the selvedge/selvage on after I have cut strips until I get ready to sew.
froggyintexas

.
The selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is the term for the self-finished edges of fabric. The selvages keep the fabric from unraveling or fraying.[1][2] The selvages are a result of how the fabric is created. In woven fabric, selvages are the edges that run parallel to the warp (the longitudinal threads that run the entire length of the fabric), and are created by the weft thread looping back at the end of each row. In knitted fabrics, selvages are the unfinished yet structurally sound edges that were neither cast on nor bound off.[3][4] Historically, the term selvage applied only to loom woven fabric, though now can be applied to flat-knitted fabric.

The terms selvage and selvedge are a corruption of "self-edge", and have been in use since the 16th century

My personal rule is not to cut until you need to. Saves time.

I cut the selvage first, when I am ready to straighten the fabric, before I cut pieces. I think it lies flatter and neater because the selvage is sometimes woven tighter than the fabric.

Good idea to save the piece with mfg data! I will put it with the big binder I am going to make with all my quilt records in it.

I do both, cut and not cut, depending on what I am doing or feel at the time.

I use to cut mine off as I cut the fabric, but will now cut them off before, so that I can use the selvage strips for mug rugs like was posted on this site. I thought the litle "moda" and other fabric info from the selvage was so cute on the mug rugs.