What to do with fraying fabric?
 

What does everyone do with cheap fabrics that seem to do nothing but fray?

I have ironed a lightweight fusible interfacing to some fabric because I had to use it. Otherwise I would have pitched it!!!

I've had Moda fray like crazy on me! In general, I just whip through the piecing as quickly as I can with as tight a stitch as possible. Then I pretend nothing on the back of the top is happening.

Pinking shears or pinking rotary cutter or Fray Check and hope that it helps. Lol - but if it's cheap thin low thread count I for sure wouldn't mix it in with my high thread count fabric.

I really have only had the super cheapo $1.50 a yard Walmart poly/cotton mix fabrics fray on me so badly that I worried about the integrity of the quilt. I just did as JulieR says and stitch with a small tight stitch, then maybe use fray check. I just avoid those altogether since I mostly make quilts anyway.

Fray check is seriously the most awesome product though, I gotta tell ya! I use it for all sorts of things, aside from quilting!

Use it for making chenille strips or rag quilts!

Do you NEED that fabric? Can something else be used? My sanity is worth more than a fraying fabric. But then I'll use silk lamee which ravels a lot. Cut 1/2" seams. Might use Fray Check in some places. Cut/sew and finish quilt quickly. Back with lightweight fusable interfacing.

Run a zigzag stitch over the edge. Use usual stitch length or longer and as wide as you can without going over your seam width.

I say to myself "life is too short" and I throw the offending fabric away.
I had read something once to the effect of "simplify your life. If it isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful, get rid of it."

I've had $12-$15 / yard fabric fray horribly, just too loose of a weave. I either pink it, get it sewn in quickly as possible, and handle it as little as possible. Good luck!

This is what I purchased when I was first starting out quilting. It frayed like crazy and I regretted being so frugal but 10+ years later those quilts are just fine!

pinking shears!

Exactly! I don't have the guilt gene about throwing something away or giving it away. It is so foolish to feel guilty about having to save everything just because you have it.

Definitely toss it or use it to stuff a dog bed. You don't need to spend your precious time making something beautiful to have it fall apart.

Try starching it really well before cutting. Most of the time that helps a lot.
also if you didn't prewash you might try that as it seems to tighten the weave sometimes

how about running it through a serger?

If it doesn't stop fraying when I have washed and dried it, I use it to make pillowcase liners for extended family members. They last quite a few years and are much less expensive than buying one.

This made me smile.... :-)

Thanks everyone. You have all gave me some good ideas to think about. The different pieces had been marked down from a higher price, and I loved the colors, and it is 100% cotton. I didn't think of it as terribly thin, but it does have a slick feel to it. Yes, I am a new quilter, and learning a lot on here. To me the very fact that I am even asking about it, and had considered throwing it away or used as a dog bed filler is a good sign to me that I am becoming a better quilter. :D I am still deciding, but I have thought about all the time that goes into one, and would like the next big quilt I make to be made stable with quality.

At the risk of sounding uncouth, what is a pillowcase "liner"?

I have had very nice fabric fray like crazy and very cheap fabric hold up well.
One of the first quilts I did was made from this gorgeous decorator fabric that I should have used wider seams on. Since I didn't and it is already partially hand quilted (one of many UFOs) I am now very carefully quilting beside the ditch in the sashing catching in each seam allowance so that the likelihood of fraying is reduced. I'm hoping this will take care of the problem. Think this one will end up as a display only quilt anyway.

I had some black solid fabric, bought in a Lancaster quilt shop during a trip to the USA, fray so badly when the top was washed that the top was in danger of falling apart. Very disappointing. I used what was left to make the inner layer of cat beds. There was simply no point in endangering other quilts with it.

Unless I have an iron-clad reason to buy looser-woven fabric, I avoid it like the plague.

Trash... cheap fraying fabrics shouldn't be used in quilts. It will just fray in your quilt.

Its best to buy good quality fabric for quilting.

Fraying Fabric
 

I have had "good" fabric not cut properly when purchased. Then when I cut it into strips I notice all the fraying on both sides. The strips I continue with and handle as little as possible. If I notice this before cutting, sometimes I take the time to 'straighten' the fabric and cut along the warp (?). Then you lose some of your fabric as it can be as much as 2-3" off grain. If it is a block that I'm using as a background for applique, I use Fray Check. As someone else noted...it is wonderful for this.

I make play houses out of the nylon and instead of fray check, I use fray BLOCK because it leaves a softer edge.

I agree with BJChad: zig-zag the offending fabric.

Well, first of all, if is fraying so badly you can hardly handle it, why would you want it in a quilt? I'd get rid of it and use something with more structural ingerity!

First of all, wash it......that may help you make up your mind....I had some that badly frayed. I washed it and it came out a wrinkled mess. It went in the trash!

I too do the zigzag stitch. And I find that it's not necessarily cheap or thin fabric that frays, just some seems to for some reason, especially flannels.

Starching the fabric can slow down the fraying (I use sizing rather than starch - a personal preference).

If it starts fraying really bad on me I run it thru my serger the piece and I can the use the serge edge as my 1/4 line for sewing.

I bought fabric like that one time, a cheapy from Hobby Lobby when I was just learning, and for a donation quilt. Never made that mistake again, what a head ache..
So trash it, stuff a dog bed, mop the kitchen floor, wipe the down the wind shield. I could not feel good about the quilt just knowing it was in there...
And I have bought fabric on sale at Wal Mart and had it perform wonderful, would not hesitate to buy more if I could find something that similar.

I use fray check. You can use it on the outside of the 1/4" seam. Work's great.

When I first started quilting I purchased about 10 yards of Walmart fabric so I could have a stash - thought it was a prerequisite for a quilter. I finally used that fabric in quilt sandwiches to practice free motion quilting. Won't buy cheap fabric again!

I think she said that she bought Moda fabric that was fraying like crazy. You could contact Moda and see if that is the rule with that fabric, or it could be one of their whoops! They might replace it. For applique instead of using fray check--it can bleed about 1/4 inch, Elly Seink----Can't spell her name, recommends using cheap clear fingernail polish sparingly on the very edge of the piece you are appliqueing. (Your nail polish can also be thinned out a bit with the nail polish thinner, if you have an issue with it being too thick)

I think the suggestion for making a chenille type quilt an excellent one. A rag quilt would also be a good suggestion.

Same thing you do with fraying LQS fabric you paid $13 a yard for. I just took a quilt top to the LA and she spent several minutes clipping threads from the back. I clipped them after I finished the piecing, but during the several months it lay dormant, it started uravelling itself. Clip and then quilt on the same day and hope the quilting holds it. froggyintexas

That was me, and I've found it to be true a lot with Moda. I still like the fabric, I just know I need to add an aggravation factor when I buy it. :)

I use them in rag quilts where fraying is a plus or just pink the edges.

have you tried to starch it like mad??? other than that, I agree... find another use for it. It is a shame to put a lot of work into a quilt, only to have it fall apart after a few washings...