Originally Posted by
feline fanatic
I know a lot will gasp in horror, but when I square up wide fabric I tear it. I always prewash, then press, then tear to get my cut edges on straight of grain. Then I leave the whole piece as is and don't cut it down until I trim after quilting.
I do it almost the same -
First,I overcast the edges before dunking -
Then, wash and dry so the fabric "will do its thing"
Then - I do try to follow a thread across and do the tear to that I have the least loss of fabric. Occasionally i have ended up with a big wedge after tearing.
Then as feline fanatic does - - -
The piece is about the size of a king size sheet - if your washing machine is adequate to handle a large sheet - no big deal about washing the fabric