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If one has the time and patience, one can pull a thread to find the straight of grain instead of tearing the fabric.
This has a nice explanation and illustration. http://www.sewing.org/files/guidelin...bric_grain.pdf |
Originally Posted by bearisgray
Originally Posted by Butterfli19
oh, so should you cut the selvedges off before prewashing?
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Well I just cut my first strip the "Nancy Way" and it definitely is not going to work.
Back to the sewing books. Thanks for all your help. All the quilts I have made in the past have come out fine, I'm not quite sure why I'm stressing over this. New book, maybe? |
Originally Posted by Butterfli19
Well I just cut my first strip the "Nancy Way" and it definitely is not going to work.
Back to the sewing books. Thanks for all your help. All the quilts I have made in the past have come out fine, I'm not quite sure why I'm stressing over this. New book, maybe? |
Originally Posted by np3
Originally Posted by Butterfli19
Well I just cut my first strip the "Nancy Way" and it definitely is not going to work.
Back to the sewing books. Thanks for all your help. All the quilts I have made in the past have come out fine, I'm not quite sure why I'm stressing over this. New book, maybe? About your second comment, I thought similarly. Wouldn't it be nice to watch fabric being made? (Maybe something to google.) Different manufacturers, operators and experience, quality of raw materials, internal quality standards, fabric treatment, storage and in-process handling - all that goes into a bolt of fabric. |
I used to work in a fabric mill in KC. When fabrics are being pressed they get stretched. Then if the fabric is rolled onto a flat bolt the fabric is stretched again to press in the centerfold. When fabric is rolled onto bolts, round or flat, the fabric is stretched AGAIN to it will roll flat.
Personally, I prewash all my fabrics. A.) To remove all finishing chemicals in the fabrics B.) To remove (or shrink) all of the stretching from fabrication. No, do not remove the selvedges before washing. Once the fabric is dried, then I square the fabric. First I remove the selvedges by ripping and then the ends by ripping. This method has proven to work well for me. |
Originally Posted by Butterfli19
First I must say I was very anxious about doing this and should probably have done it with uglier fabric, but the deed is done.
Not impressed. My straight line is crooked and wavy so now I have to cut more off to make it lay straight. It curles in about 1/2" so that's about 3" I just wasted. I didn't prewash. The selvedge lines up with the other side but not the side I ripped. I have never ripped a piece of fabric, whether super expensive LQS or on the $1 clearance table at an outlet that did not waste fabric. I am in 100 percent disagreement about removing the selvedges before you cut strips across the width of fabric. All of us have to pick some frame of reference for getting things square and in my opinion, selvedges are more reliable than the raw edges left by ripping them off. What frame of reference would you use to take the selvedges off? And what would be your frame of reference if you rotary cut them off? Now that this has totally left me shaking my head, I'm going for even more controversial techniques. I'm going to cut my 2-7/8" in strip before ironing, just hand-pressing the wrinkles away. I'm then going to starch the strip with Niagara that I just bought. I'm not going to pre-wash. Just going to cut and sew and press as I go. I'll let you know how it goes. |
Originally Posted by Butterfli19
First I must say I was very anxious about doing this and should probably have done it with uglier fabric, but the deed is done.
Not impressed. My straight line is crooked and wavy so now I have to cut more off to make it lay straight. It curles in about 1/2" so that's about 3" I just wasted. I didn't prewash. The selvedge lines up with the other side but not the side I ripped. I have never ripped a piece of fabric, whether super expensive LQS or on the $1 clearance table at an outlet that did not waste fabric. I am in 100 percent disagreement about removing the selvedges before you cut strips across the width of fabric. All of us have to pick some frame of reference for getting things square and in my opinion, selvedges are more reliable than the raw edges left by ripping them off. What frame of reference would you use to take the selvedges off? And what would be your frame of reference if you rotary cut them off? Now that this has totally left me shaking my head, I'm going for even more controversial techniques. I'm going to cut my 2-7/8" in strip before ironing, just hand-pressing the wrinkles away. I'm then going to starch the strip with Niagara that I just bought. I'm not going to pre-wash. Just going to cut and sew and press as I go. I'll let you know how it goes. |
I generally avoid tearing. ESPECIALLY if I don't have any "extra" fabric for the project at hand.
I will tear off a "hunk" of a long piece now and then - mostly because I was too lazy to do it properly. When I just "have to have" a straight edge - I pull a thread and straighten it that way. Yes, it's waaaaaaay sllllooooowweeer than just ripping, but I consider it part of the "entertainment process" It's at least as productive as watching TV. |
That's one of the reasons I don't like ripping. Ripping does seem to go better when it is not on the cross-grain. Ripping parallel to the selvedge, as for when you need a long strip for a border, seems to go better. Cross-grain ripping seems to do a lot more damage. Even when the ripped edge looks good to the eye, there is damage for the first inch or two that can be seen under a microscope.
Do you realize it's better to starch before cutting? Starch stabilizes the fabric so cuts are more true. |
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