ripping yardage?
05-23-2011, 06:30 PM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Union, Missouri
Posts: 1,542
I always tear one end of my fabric. I spray with starch, let dry, tear, then iron, it makes it so much easier to get the fabric folded with selvages together on grain. no guess work about it! Then I just trim that end off before I start cutting my pieces.
05-24-2011, 05:02 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Horseheads, NY 14845
Posts: 4,025
I have purchased 1 yard pieces and washed them, only to find that I lost anywhere's up to 2" as it wasn't cut on the "true". I tear my fabric at home - I have seen the hint about pulling the thread though.
05-24-2011, 06:20 AM
#27
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: South Alabama
Posts: 711
If they start with a torn edge, measure and then tear your yardage, it seems to me you shouldn't loose anything. If it is "wonky", pull two opposite corners (diagonally across the fabric) and tug it until the threads shift and it squares up. My home ec teacher in high school taught us this. We had a real tug-of-war with some fabrics to get them to be on-grain; short, snapping tugs do better than one pull. Then you have all the treads lined up so that when you fold in half the salvages match and the ends are also even. I think it's worth the extra time for some fabric, especially plaids that are woven into the fabric and not just printed on top.
05-24-2011, 06:21 AM
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Shipshewana, IN
Posts: 775
Originally Posted by Maggiesmom
Have you ever bought a yard of fabric that had been cut for you and taken it home only to find it to be terribly crooked? Snip it, tear it and you will find that you really don't have a yard of fabric. I don't know how many half yards I have had cut that end up maybe only 15-16 full inches wide across the 42+ inches. My mother was a terrific seamstress. She always tore her fabric to get it straight before she cut out a pattern. That's what they did in the "olden" days.
05-24-2011, 06:27 AM
#29
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Enid, OK
Posts: 8,273
Originally Posted by dhanke
Tearing the fabric gives you a true on grain edge, but unless they give you at least a couple of inches of "fudge", you lose some fabric when you trim off the torn bit. When I need a smaller piece of fabric from a large piece in my stash I always tear it.
05-24-2011, 06:38 AM
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 855
Originally Posted by quiltsRfun
Originally Posted by PaperPrincess
That's the way they always used to do it. (In prehistoric times).
I hear ya on the *ouch* :lol: Well, you're not the only
dinosaur ... l'll keep you company :lol: :lol:
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
