Well, I just ripped to find the edge and am not impressed with the outcome
07-08-2011, 02:17 PM
#42
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: BC
Posts: 713
Originally Posted by CompulsiveQuilter
I've always been taught to fold and hold the fabric by the selvages at arm's length. Then move it around until the the folded side lays flat, then cut off the sides. It's an "eyeball grain test." Does anybody else do this?
07-08-2011, 02:22 PM
#43
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 823
Originally Posted by RkayD
Thats why you always buy more than you need for your project. If you cut it so close that you worry about a few inches of fabric you'll be disappointed every time. I learned a long time ago to buy at the very least a 1/2 to a full yard more than I needed because when I didn't I regretted it. The up side to that is...I have a very cool stash. =)
When you cut you never line up the selvages but the fold. You slide the selvages until the fold is straight and then even your edges. Sometimes the selvages are way off sometimes their not. It happens with LQS fabric as much as with the bargain fabrics.
When you cut you never line up the selvages but the fold. You slide the selvages until the fold is straight and then even your edges. Sometimes the selvages are way off sometimes their not. It happens with LQS fabric as much as with the bargain fabrics.
07-08-2011, 02:26 PM
#44
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: currently central new jersey
Posts: 8,623
in a perfect world, all the threads that make up the WOF would be at perfect right angles to the selvedge. i don't know anyone who lives in that world.
removing the selvedge has nothing to do with the grain. if the grain isn't straight, removing the edge won't straighten it out.
the direction of the grain has been processed into the fabric. whatever you do to it, it wants to default to it's original direction, like curly hair. you can wash it, iron it, whatever. but if you hang it up wet and let it dry by itself, it'll be crooked again.
i just wash it to get out the bleed (with or without retayne), machine dry, line up the selvedges without a bubble, trim the ends to match by cutting them even, iron or not, and put it away. when i go to use it, i starch the h*ll out of it to facilitate handling and go on my way. after a quilt is quilted down, everything is stabilized. if the quilt is crooked, it's not the fault of the grain.
every quilt i ever made has been able to be blocked perfectly square without worrying about grain. after all, when you make hexagons, only 2 sides are on grain. triangles? 1 side. just handle carefully and get on with it. the only time grain matters is on curves. there you want bias, NOT grain. the rest is unimportant. those directions were written before machine quilting.
removing the selvedge has nothing to do with the grain. if the grain isn't straight, removing the edge won't straighten it out.
the direction of the grain has been processed into the fabric. whatever you do to it, it wants to default to it's original direction, like curly hair. you can wash it, iron it, whatever. but if you hang it up wet and let it dry by itself, it'll be crooked again.
i just wash it to get out the bleed (with or without retayne), machine dry, line up the selvedges without a bubble, trim the ends to match by cutting them even, iron or not, and put it away. when i go to use it, i starch the h*ll out of it to facilitate handling and go on my way. after a quilt is quilted down, everything is stabilized. if the quilt is crooked, it's not the fault of the grain.
every quilt i ever made has been able to be blocked perfectly square without worrying about grain. after all, when you make hexagons, only 2 sides are on grain. triangles? 1 side. just handle carefully and get on with it. the only time grain matters is on curves. there you want bias, NOT grain. the rest is unimportant. those directions were written before machine quilting.
07-08-2011, 05:08 PM
#45
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
Originally Posted by ewecansew
Originally Posted by CompulsiveQuilter
I've always been taught to fold and hold the fabric by the selvages at arm's length. Then move it around until the the folded side lays flat, then cut off the sides. It's an "eyeball grain test." Does anybody else do this?
07-08-2011, 09:15 PM
#50
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Maryland
Posts: 264
Material today 2011 isn't like what I brought in the 1960's. Then you could be sure of a straight edge. I tore material in the ninties, and like you got a mess. I think ripping is a habit that can not be applied to materials today.
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