nannyrick

It was anything BUT straight. I have heard that if you rip, you will get straight strips. Mine were not.

auntpiggylpn

I think you will always have a wonky strip the first one you rip. The fabric will only rip on the grain. So your first ripped strip will usually be wonky. After that, you should have straight of grain strips that aren't wonky. I think the majority of the rippers always rip larger than they need and then trim it down. I don't rip often enough to consider myself an expert though.

sewplease

I always tear my borders the length of the fabric (so I don't have to piece wider pieces) and have never had any problems. I usually add a half inch to the size I need, snip an inch or so, and rip away. If I want a 6" border I rip it at 6.5" and then carefully fold it so I can use my 6x24" ruler to quickly even it up to 6 inches. Works so much better for me than trying to cut out a long piece the length of fabric.

Central Ohio Quilter

If you ripped your fabric and then the edges were not perpendicular to the selvedge, you need to "pull" your fabric to make squared edges. Yank your fabric along the bias the length of the whole bias until your edges are perpendicular. I can not tell you how to figure out which bias to pull on, but, if you pull on one bias it will make your fabric more wonky and if you pull on the opposite bias it will straighten it. If you start on the wrong one and find it is getting worse, just pull on the other bias instead. It will eventually get the edged perpendicular. The fabric will work so much better if it is on the straight of grain, especially if you are using long strips!