Tearing fabric to straighten it
 

I have been making tote type bags for an organization for people to carry supplies home in.

I think the bags fold up better when they are cut on-grain.

So - I will tear fabric to get it "straight" - when I have "lots" to work with.

but I am also prepared to "sacrifice" at least 1/2 inch on either side of the tear that has been "mutilated' by the tearing. By "sacrificing" - I have about a 1/2 inch seam allowance so the "mutilation" is all in the seam allowance.

I also press the torn ends to try to get them to "unruffle" a bit before proceeding.

Tearing fabric makes me cringe if one is planning to use a 1/4 (or less) inch seam on the torn edge.

Tearing damages the fabric - some fabrics don't seem to suffer as much as others, but some fabrics do not tolerate tearing well at all.

I'm with you, but it's only worth the trouble if I also pull the fabric to straighten the grain.

I find myself tearing fabric more and more. Borders work better for me when they're on the grain-I must unintentionally stretch them otherwise and they're wavy. Usually I have plenty of fabric so the ripped edge can be ironed and then trimmed.

I used to tear fabric more when I was doing garment construction and straight grain was essential. I agree you do have to allow 1/2" (at least) seam allowances when you tear because of damage to the edges. Mostly I don't tear. I have used a system that someone posted here for cutting. She had an interesting way to get the fabric straight without tearing that I liked.

I have a couple of quilt tops that my mom had worked on 30 years ago. She tore a lot of the fabric, even when she wanted 2.5" sashing.

I will tear to get a straight edge, but then normally work off that and don't tear more. I do tear when working with extra wide backing, but that normally tears very well. I tear off the selvages before putting it on the frame too.

Once I get it mounted, I'll roll it back and forth a few times with a bit of tension on it, and that will straighten it out quite nicely. I always pre wash, and sometimes it's quite off before it gets mounted.

I like to tear wide backing fabric because it is always cut so crooked.

Do you ever tear fabric and end up with a huge amount torn off at one end? I quit tearing because of that. I used to tear all the time and never had a problem, but lately, I end up with a strip that widens to at least 2 inches. That is with quilt store fabric. It's a lot worse with JoAnns fabric.

OK, this is probably just my imagination, but it seems as though there is less collateral damage if I tear the fabric really fast. If I go slowly, it appears that there's more of a ruffled edge.

I don't tear fabric to straighten it, except vertically to split a backing so I can add a expander strip. I did that last night and the edge looks pretty good. It won't need any trimming. The heavy fabric I use for bags doesn't seem to need it.

I tear fabric when making pillowcases--need to work on grain so the case will not 'roll' after laundry.

To find straight of grain pull a thread under you can pull it the length of your piece of fabric. It has no givr if straight of grain. I was taught this in Home Ec. years ago.

I do not usually tear fabric (but have sometimes) if I need true straight of grain I usually pull a thread, much more time consuming but don't "stretch" anything and can use more of the fabric.

Ok, so pulling the thread gets the same result as ripping, but without the distortion? I've done both, but have too admit I enjoy ripping! On the other hand, I abhor fabric waste. Will try to take the time for thread pulling in the future.

I sometimes pull a thread - but I get frustrated when the thread breaks before i get all the way across the width.

At the LQS I work at we tear all our wide backing fabric...too many times owner ended up short when the fabric was cut. Tearing puts the fabric straight on grain, an essential to LA quilting.

To avoid distortion, a pulled thread on regular width fabric works well, as mentioned earlier.

I pull a thread. The thread always breaks a couple of times, but I cut up to where the thread broke and sometimes find the end, but if not the next thread works fine. I agree that there is a gleeful satisfaction in tearing, but probably not good for the fabric.

Thank you for the reminder. I ordered fabric for graduation gift pillowcases last evening.

Some fabric is so horribly crooked there is nothing you can do to find the straight of the grain without losing a lot of fabric. Very disappointing sometimes. These are mostly stamped designs and not woven.

When I used to work in a professional textile restoration studio we did this. We would pull about three wefts and then cut along. A bit time consuming, but backing and supporting fabrics had to be on grain.

HettyB

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination but I seem to remember at one time fabric was always torn by staff in fabric shops.

Now I’ve noticed that when I buy from a general fabric shop the fabric will be cut with scissors or rotary cutter - and is rarely straight. As I tend to buy small pieces - sometimes just half or quarter yard/metre this can be very frustrating. Occasionally the assistant will give a generous measurement, knowing that they are not cutting straight, but not always.

However, when I buy from a quilting fabric shop it’s a very different experience. One (pricey) shop I sometimes go to sells fabric by the inch. It is very carefully measured and cut using a rotary cutter and ruler.

I think lots of problems are avoided when fabric is on grain. I try to be careful when I buy fabric to be sure it is printed on grain (for the most part). I pull threads to get the grain line and pull the fabric diagonally when necessary. I know it is time consuming but I feel that it is worth it.

I use to make drapes and curtains for a custom made drapery shop, It doesn't take long to pull a thread and use that as your cutting guide.and you can cut on the straight of the grain this way.Once you get use to it ,it comes easy.

I recycle sheets and about the only way to deal with them is to tear. Yes, sometimes the grain is off resulting in waste, but I like to work with straight grain.

I prefer to wash my fabrics before cutting them - I like to see what they want to do "naturally".

Occasionally I have come across a fabric that I am unable to straighten - or if I did straighten it, it wants to revert back to being off-grain. A bit like straightening naturally curly hair - or putting rollers into naturally straight hair.

"Pull" has been used in several posts here. It has different meanings. When you pull a thread, you take out one thread in the cross grain, which will show the exact straight grain line of the width. But then those edges have to match exactly when you fold the fabric in half again (or in quarters).

In order to match this grain line when folded, you need to "pull" the fabric. When the fabric is folded in half, you will find one half is longer than the other. Lay fabric out flat. Grasp the shorter corner with one hand, then grasp the other side of the fabric at the other selvage about 42 inches down from the other corner so that you are pulling at a 45º angle. Give that bias a little tug. Move your hands a few inches closer to the long corner and tug again. Repeat the tugging until you get right to the corner. Now go back to your first tug and move down to the other end of the fabric and work into that corner. Fold the fabric in half again and see if it needs more tugging. You may see that it is perfect now or you may see that you need to tug a lot harder.

In home-ec class, we always pulled a thread and then tugged until the ends were even.

maviskw...I believe the term for that process is "tentering". Learned that in HS Home Ec as well as pulling the thread and cutting.

Depends on what is more important to one at the moment - keeping as much fabric (or design) as possible, or working with straight of grain -

I agree. I have a red print from a good line that is printed way off. I have opted to use in smaller amounts - no wider that 2 1/2" - and go with the grain to enjoy the color. If it were blue, I'd probably pitch it.

I looked up "tentering" and only found the methods used in huge factory settings! Would be nice to see how one is able to do it at home! Involves stretching I think.

maviskw described it well...if you have a buddy nearby you can each hang onto a side while you gently stretch.

Today I went to a meeting where I volunteer and I was asking what tasks needed to be done when my church sends middle-schoolers to volunteer a few times this summer. As I was verifying if the group still tore the flannel for receiving blankets ( did for a while, then cut instead for a while-different leaders and different ideas), I was told they still do tear. So I verified the width and length and the gal asked me if I knew about tearing the end of the flannel to straighten it before I started to cut the 30'' squares. I looked at her and asked her to explain. She said to tear down the length of the bolt and then snip a little bit at the beginning of that length and then tear across the width to make all of the cuts straight further down the line. I looked at her and said ok but told her I was confused. We both smiled so now I need to do one more step. We would sometimes tug on the flannel like described above to get it straight. It has something to do with the flannel curling after washing the receiving blankets which are only one layer.

If they are cut on-grain, and hemmed, (or the edges serged) why would they curl?

bearisgray: They are serged so I don't know why either. :) I will ask that question the next time I see the leader that commented on it. She wasn't at the meeting today.

There are a lot of things I used to do that I won't do now -- it's a difference in methods used by manufacturers -- sometimes better than 'in the old days', sometimes not! I think it's just as important (maybe more so) for quilt fabric to be straight as it is for garment fabric. The difference is that you can be working with much larger pieces of fabric which makes it harder to work with.

Whether the receiving blankets roll or not may depend upon the type of "serging" that is done -- I've used a serger stitch with two spools of "wooly nylon" which is a much narrower stitch than standard serger stitches. In my case, the fabric was upholstery fabric and did not roll, but in a lighter-weight fabric, such as flannel, it would roll -- I'm no expert -- have just experienced some of this stuff!

I tear a lot of fabric... and then press the edge right back into shape.

As for finding the straight grain: Can't you see the grain in your fabric? I can always find it and orient my pattern pieces in line with it.

If fabric seems skewed, such as with panels, just pull hard on the bias to get it back in place. It works. Then iron.

I have found the same thing. Wide backs I tear fast as far as possible & continue that way. It is all so very satisfying if you are frustrated about something.

After ripping the fabric edge I then use my rotary cutter and ruler to cut off another half inch to cut off the fray which enables me to start with a nice crisp edge.

IF you are looking for the "straight of grain" on the fabric, you can snip a piece and PULL A Thread. This will tell you where to cut. If a fabric looks really off I'll do this. Yes, sometimes, like tearing one end is much larger than another, as it' how they make it now. Digital prints are the worst.

Remember most fabrics are made in a foreign country by workers who don't care about quality. NOTHING is done well as in past times. I also find that I have to really watch things if I'm using a digital print as they are really stretchy - EVEN if they "claim" to be 100% Cotton. I now either starch the heck out of them or press a very thin stabilizer on the back.
Good news is we're not "YET" paying $25-$30 a yard for this same lower quality as many quilters in other country's are paying.

My horse panel I'm working with now is a digital print and it's perfect. (Northcutt)

What are digital prints? what are "other" prints? How are they different from each other?