I went to a LQS that I don't ordinarily go to today at lunch. I wanted to get some off-white background fabric for a quilt I'm contemplating, and the LQS I normally go to is closed on Mondays. This shop I went to today is more of a sewing / smocking kind of place, although maybe 1/6th of the store footprint is the quilting area. The lady at the quilting counter was helpful and showed me various fabrics to help me make a selection. I told her I wanted 2 yards so she measured it out and make a small cut in the selvedge. I figured she was marking where she was going to cut. She then picked up the fabric in both hands and RIIIPPPPED is from side to side. :shock: :shock: :shock: I know I probably visibly cringed when she did it.

It seems like fabric ripped like this would be likely to be skewed in the process? Yes? No? I've only been to like maybe a half dozen LQSs, but at all of them they simply rotary cut the material, or even at Wal-Mart they just use scissors. Do other places rip fabric before your very eyes like this?

LOL Mary Jos does that too and I about fell over too....
The girl said that it rips straight since its on the grain.....

Am I the only other person who hates to have my fabric ripped? Seems like that practice went out years ago. Do they really do this anymore....other than that one place?

June in Cincinnati

Some of the shops around here will rip the fabrics. Most of them cut. I did have a vendor at the International Quilt shop rip my 1 yard cut.
I rip my fabrics for the backing, but then I use a 5/8" seam to get away from the stretched ripped edge. It does distort the edge a little. I will also frequently rip off a smaller piece (ie 1/4 or 1/2 yard) from a much larger piece when I am going to use it for piecing. I cut the actual pieces, I just separate a workable size piece from larger, 3- 12 yard pieces that I may have. The leftover piece between the cut edge and the rip goes into the scrap pile for .....It does rip along the grain line.

It does rip straight, but it also stretches and distorts the edge that's ripped. I wouldn't want my fabric ripped.

The shop I went to last week rips too. I did ask her if she could cut it, and she was very willing to do that for me.

I will NOT purchase fabric that has been ripped...if they say that's the only way they do it...then great...let them keep it.... the threads for at least ½" are pulled into an unusable condition. I also understand that when you try to straighten fabric & then rotary cut it...you "lose" an inch or two...& it really shouldn't happen...but it does....

I always rip long pieces, and it never distorts. I get more distortion when I wash fabrics. My borders and backing are exact everytime. I have been quilting over 25 years. I know when they cut sometimes it is really hard to straighten the fabric when I get it home. If it looks distorted just press it and it is fine. You get a truer straight when it is ripped. I just took a class and mentioned ripping and the instructor also hadn't ripped in years and we all started ripping our large straight pieces and everyone was really surprised and excited and how easy and perfect each strip was. I rip for any long strip 3" and over.

I am attaching a photo of one of my recent quilt tops both the narrow and wide border are ripped.

I forgot to mention I did not have to trip either one except for a few and very few long threads.

i don't let people rip my fabric either - i understand the straight of grain blah, blah, blah but it just rubs me the wrong way.

I actually prefer to 'tear' (gently, not a ferocious 'rip') for long pieces - a press and, rarely a trim, and I'm good to go. I like border prints, and this is the best way I've found to get them as accurate as possible. I only tear lengthwise grain, tho - I think it could possibly stretch the crosswise grain.

Eddie, here is a site that talks about fabric grains: http://www.sewaquilt.com/fabric-grain.html It might help to understand, at least :D

Boy so much for typing trim not trip. LOL

I almost always rip lengthwise, seldom from selvedge to selvedge. Considering how out-od-whack fabric is cut sometimes, I don't notice any loss from ripping. I wash my fabric before using, and iron it, so it is fine before I use it.

I want my fabric cut! I haven't been anywhere that they rip for years. Every place I have been they use scissors or rotary cutters. I think my jaw would drop if they ripped my fabric! I think I would take a really close look at the ripped edges. I think they used to rip when we washed our fabric before sewing and then the ends would kind of self heal. I seldom launder my fabric anymore, so I don't want the edges ruffled! :?

I agree rip does sound more ferocious than tear. I tear my long strips.

nope I wouldn't like my fabrics ripppppped either...no way! I know about the straight of grain but if you are buying quilt shop quality fabric it should be printed straight! Will you go back for another ripping?

Ripping doesn't bother me at all. Whichever way they want to do it is fine with me. I love to buy fabric at Mary Jo's and that is the only way they do it. I have one quilt shop that rotary cuts it and the other one rips.

I wash my fabric before I use it so I really can't tell the difference.

Sybil

I absolutely hate to cut long border strips of fabric. It never comes out perfectly but tearing it DOES. I started tearing border pieces after a discussion here and if at all possible I will. The last couple of quilts have been very definate border prints so I cut following my selected point in the print.

The two that I did by tearing I was very happy with.

Read a few posts and figured it out!
If they want to cut it three inches longer than the three yards I ordered, by all means - - rip away, but consider this!

If you rip it from selvedge to selvedge, you will definitely skew the fabric ... it may be straight somewhere along the line, but selvedge to selvedge is not the most stable part to rip.

If you are going to rip your borders, then you have a really good chance of having little waste, little distortion, since the lengthwise of a bolt is more stable than the selvedge to selvedge.

I am not professional enough to tell the warp from the weft, but one of them is touchy, and the other one is stable.
Which explains why (when I tried ripping my backing straight while it was on the quilt frame, and I was NOT using the length) ... my backing was skewed, and I did some fancy piecing to make it all blend.

My grandmother quilted for over sixty years and always, always ripped her fabrics. After getting ahlzeimers and going to nursing home, she started ripping all her gowns to pieces. She would bring the bottom up and bite it with her teeth to get it started and then stretch her arms out to rip it. She had all the nurses baffled as to why she was doing it and after I walked in and saw her, I instantly knew that in her mind she was quilting again. lol

there is a fabric store in town that sells fabric by the pound,been here for years.They rip the fabric.My friend went in to buy and about had a heart attack when they ripped the first piece.She asked the girl not to do that,she wanted it cut,the girl proceded to rip again and my friend turned and walked out,left the fabric there.

I do think ripping gives you a more straight of grain edge - but ripping selvedge to selvedge will likely leave a half inch or so unusable. So my instinct is to say that they need to allow for that, and give an inch or two extra. In thinking about it, though, I often have to cut that much off to straighten the edge anyhow, and getting it to the point of knowing where the straight edge in can be challenging, esp. for longer cuts.

This reminds me of waaayyy back when I started sewing - in 4-H. We were doing garment construction and after buying fabric at the Ben Franklin, we had to pull a thread up with a pin and then pull it from edge to edge to get the straight of grain for our pattern. :shock:

I too go to Mary Jo's (quite often). There are several of the girls there that "rip" the fabric, but not all of them do. I have purchased several fabrics that I did not want "ripped" and they were more than happy to cut those fabrics for me. ANY fabric shop should honor the wishes of the customer, (within reason) - that is - if they want to stay in business.

I also go to Mary Jo's and I have never had my fabric ripped. I do tear mine for borders, it is so much easier to get a straight line with long borders that way . If I am buying good quality material, it doesn't bother me if they tear it.

I hate when they rip fabric. I cringe. I don't like the fabric all stretched out. Sirs in Fayetteville rips it and they act like I'm putting them out when I tell them I don't like it ripped.
It's faster for them to rip it so they hate using the scissors...

I only tear my fabrics the length of the fabric when I need a long border and don't want to piece. I don't have a problem with doing it that way.

And, yes, I've seen my mom and my grandmother ripping fabric with their teeth -- I thought everyone did this :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have been quilting for 40 years and I always tear my borders and fabric for strips if it is longer than my ruler. If I am buying a fabric with a print where being straight counts I have the store even JoAnns tear it. It is the only way to be sure that the grain is straight. We have all had quilts that ended up with ripples. If it gets distorted through tearing a little ironing with steam works miracles.

I agree completely!

In my years of working at quilt stores, I learned that even the "top quality" brands of fabric are seldom wound straight on the bolts. We sometimes ripped off a few inches at the beginning of a bolt to see how bad it was. Our customers knew that we would rip or cut as they prefered. The experienced quilters could see by looking at the bolt whether it would be better to rip or cut.

Yes, we made sure to give them an extra inch or so in order to compensate for the frayed edges, but if it was cut, they had to deal with the straightening problem themselves.


I don't mind ripping yardage and have requested it when I have seen bolts that were not wound straight.

Don't go to Quilt In A Day tent sales at Paducah if you don't want your fabric ripped. That's the only way they cut the fabric. I went to a quilt market show and all the fabric was ripped unless it was prepackaged. I worked in a fashion sewing factory as a teenager and most all the fabric was ripped. Ripped fabric will not skew, have hundreds of thread hanging, or go off grain if the fabric is good quality. Low quality fabric will be a mess if you rip it and you'll lose many inches trying to get a straight grain rip. That's the way I can tell if the fabric is the good stuff and worth the money.

I made a log cabin quilt with ripped strips. It came out very well. The biggest problem I have with ripped is the fraying.

I always ripped before rotary cutting.
I always rip my fabric before running it through the pleater for English Smocking, it is always straight & goes through the pleater correctly, if I try cutting it I have a horrible time getting it through the pleater.
I believe I will start tearing my long border strips again after this discussion.
Jo

I'm really glad to read all this. I remember my grandma and mom biting and tearing fabric, too, and thought that was just never done anymore. But I recently had some fabric that I just couldn't cut straight because of the print, so I ripped it, and felt really guilty about it. But it worked out better for me. I also couldn't figure out how to cut very large pieces or lengths, and went ahead and ripped, and it wasn't so bad.

That's what I do. I wouldn't want to use fabric that has been ripped selvedge to selvedge unless I first cut off at least 2 inches of it. Years ago I read an article in QNM. A quilter took a look at the ripped edges of her fabric under the microscope and found damaged fibers up to 2 inches from the rip. She created heirloom quilts, so she then took all of her ripped fabric and cut off 2 inches from the ripped edges.

I don't have as much of a problem with ripping fabric lengthwise because of the increased stability of the weave. I don't have a problem with folding and cutting long borders lengthwise, though, so I haven't actually resorted to doing this. I'd probably do it for a king-size quilt.

The stores I go to cut - some with scissors and some with rotary blades. I decided to rip the long borders recently, and I was fighting with the strings forever. So I think I'll stick to cutting.

One of mine does, and my sis recently asked would she please cut it, and she very nicely did. I will ask next time, because I cringe too. I also do not like all the strings it leaves.

My LQS used to rip the fabric, but when the store changed hands, the new owner found that all the fabric fibers in the air from ripping aggravated her allergies, so they started cutting.

When I buy fabric they always
cut it, instead of tearing it. I
haven't seen anyone tear their
fabric in years!!
:D :D :D :D

I like a nice smooth edge and tearing leaves a small amount of ugly torn threads.

Where could I find the pattern for the Baseball quilt? My grandson would love to have one to take to college with him. It fits his life perfectly. i am a fairly new quilter and but am already loving it.