Grain of fabric vs pattern on fabric!
 

I have a print piece of fabric that is not lining up. I cannot figure out if it is printed not straight with grain or if I made it wonky when I pressed it. I’ve tried spraying it and truly pressing it (making sure not to iron but only press) and it’s not straightening up. Is there any way to tell? If it’s printed askew, I’ll cut off grain and follow the pattern because it looks terrible otherwise. If I ironed instead of pressing and messed it up myself, will re-washing help?

Any real life experience or darn good guess welcome as this is really frustrating me.

thanks!

Marilyn

I pay absolutely No attention to grain, unless it's for long borders. I honestly don't think grain matters much in quilting because we cut the fabric up into small pieces anyway.

Thanks for replying Peggi, I may have made a mistake in using the word grain.

I fold the fabric salvage to salvage, adjust a bit right or left to get a nice straight hang, match my bottom fold to a line on my cutting mat, make my cut to have a straight edge to measure from. Ok, now my straight edge and the line of my pattern on the fabric are a 1/4 or better from each other on one end of the fabric but line up nicely on the other end.
I hope I explained it better!?!

very very often the print is not "printed" on the fabric correctly during the manufacturing process. If you are making projects that require straight of grain such as clothing or drapery, then ignore the incorrect printing. If you are making projects that require matching the print such as quilting or applique, then ignore the grain.

I’ve found a lot of patterned fabric not printed tru to grain , as Jane quilter says, for quilting I sometimes ignore the grain, hasn’t messed up a quilt yet.

I think the only way you are going to be able to tell if it's mis-printed is to tear an edge. That will give you true straight of grain and let you know if you or the printing are off. Just my thoughts.

look at the back of the fabric.

see if the print follows one of the threads or wanders off

if it wandered off, it was printed off-grain and the options are
- do not use the fabric
- cut it on grain and have the print look wonky
- cut it to follow the print and ignore the grain lines

i think grain line matters - especially on the outside edges of a block - because straight of grain is,less stretchy than a bias edge. generally speaking, crosswise grain is stretchier than lengthwuse grain.

doreen speckmann suggesting cutting sashing on the crosswise grain because it was easier to "fudge" if one needed to ease in a slightly larger block.

Thank you for all the responses, they help. I agree that so many are printed off, but many designs are not obvious like this one.

I want to figure out if I am doing it with my pressing so I can stop! We, as humans, shoot ourselves in the foot enough in life, I don’t need to be doing it with my means of relaxation :)

You should be able to tell if the print is wonky by looking carefully at the print next to the selvedge. Does it have a repeat that you can identify? If, for instance, the pink flower with one petal longer than the others, and facing down, is 2" from the edge in one area, it should be 2" from the edge where it repeats.
I have purchased a lot of precuts that aren't cut on the straight of the grain. It's aggravating, but, as Peckish said, it doesn't really matter much once it is cut and sewn. I would doubt that you are skewing it off that much by pressing/ironing.
You could try dampening the fabric and letting it dry naturally, hand smooth it, then see where the pattern is.

I think this is a problem in the printing, not your ironing. It is very hard to stretch or distort the selvages, so your method should leave things lined up if they were printed straight to begin with.

Depending on the length of fabric you're working with, and the width of your cuts, you may be able to "absorb" that quarter inch difference in the cutting (if a strip is 2 1/2" at one end, and 2 15/32" at the other, it probably won't affect your piecing). If the pattern is very obvious, this might be the way to go. You might have to cut selvage to selvage without folding in order to follow the pattern.

Without knowing what the fabric is and how it will be used, it's hard to offer suggestions on how to deal with it. Everyone who said to ignore the grain is right, IMO. Just don't worry about your ironing technique; this is most likely a manufacturing issue, not you!