You are absolutely correct. i am a long time dressmaker, we used to tear and "straighten" all our fabric. It was a disaster on loosely woven fabrics. that was also when we wanted the pattern on the fabric to be lined up perfectly with the selvages. One lost a lot of fabric in this process. The whole idea of tearing has been out of my methods for at least 25 years. Let me know of the result under the microscope.
Annette

I don't tear it anymore because of the distortion it seems to cause. I use my rotary cutter for all straight cuts. I've noticed that most of the quilt shops I go to don't tear anymore either - they use a rotary cutter.

When I was 19 I worked in the fabric dept of a large Department Store and this was what we used to measure the fabric . Incidentally this is where I was the day John Kennedy was shot. We had a window in the back that looked out on the
Capitol bldg. in Lansing, Mi and we kept watching to see if the flag was lowered and sadly, eventually it was. Sorry about getting off the topic.

I heard too from a local quilt store that by tearing the fabric it reduces raveling when you wash the fabric. Yes, there is some waste, but if you're putting that much time into creating a lifetime memory wouldn't you want it be sustainable throughout the years?

If you need to reduce ravelling on a piece for washing, either narrowly zig zag a 1/4 inch from the cut edge or if you are lucky enough to own a serger just serge it.

The fabric use to be different than what we have now. I have tried tearing fabric and wasn't happy with the results. I also remember that.

I agree with this, I don't like to tear it.

So, with all the hard and fast rules about being sure our quilt pieces are on "straight of grain", if we cut all our fabric with rotary cutters we know for sure that that will not be the case. However, I think that with the quality of fabric now, as long as it is "close" to being on grain it will hold shape pretty well. I think fabric is probably much better woven these days and less likely to distort. At least I hope so, as I have made many quilts using only rotary cutting, and would hate to think that all those little pieces in all those quilts are going to distort and shift as they are used and washed.

This whole topic may be making a mountain out of a molehill!!! If you want to tear, tear. If you want to rotary cut, do that.

I remember that :!: I always thought it was the neatest thing to watch :lol: I used to tear, but found that I lost to much fabric so now I only cut. Also, I don't think that fabric today is woven as tightly as it used to be.

Oh Wow ~ I had forgot all about those! Thanks for reminding me. I would love to find one for my sewing room - just for the nastaligia (sp) of it!