Fraying fabric
 

What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

serge the edges......or do you have a serger?? You could zig zag them
instead.

wrote in message
...
What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

serge the edges......or do you have a serger?? You could zig zag them
instead.

On fabric which frays really badly, I prefer to simply staystitch all around
the edges of each piece as it is cut out, and decide later how to finish the
seams. (But then, I really do not care for the look of serged edges in most
fabrics.)

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

wrote in message
...
What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

I have always _cut out_ using pinking shears (taught to do that by my
mother, the perfectionist). This prevents the edges fraying while you
are working with the pieces, and you can either leave it pinked or
serge it later. It takes a little time to get accustomed to adding
the depth of the "pinks" to your seam allowance, but I've been doing
it so long it's second nature. In my case, my shears leave a 1/8"
depth, so I sew with the outer points at the 3/4" line. When I
finally get some of my bridal pictures uploaded to the Happiest When
Sewing group, you'll be able to see that all the satin and taffeta
pieces are pinked.

--
Beverly
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wrote:

What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

Clean finish the edges before doing anything else unless the garment is
fully lined.

Zigzag or 3 step zz for light fabrics, or serge edges if you have the
option. Take a look on my web site for some ideas - there are
explanations in the Seam Finishes section. There are some basic seams
in rge Seama section too, that might help.

On heavier fabrics, there are other options: zz & 3 step zz, Hong Kong
finishes, old fashioned over sewing by hand...

Personally I don't like to use fraycheck down a whole seam, but it is
good for stopping snipped corners fraying into holes.

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

BEI Design wrote:

wrote in message
...
What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?

I have always _cut out_ using pinking shears (taught to do that by my
mother, the perfectionist). This prevents the edges fraying while you
are working with the pieces, and you can either leave it pinked or
serge it later. It takes a little time to get accustomed to adding
the depth of the "pinks" to your seam allowance, but I've been doing
it so long it's second nature. In my case, my shears leave a 1/8"
depth, so I sew with the outer points at the 3/4" line. When I
finally get some of my bridal pictures uploaded to the Happiest When
Sewing group, you'll be able to see that all the satin and taffeta
pieces are pinked.

--
Beverly
---to reply, delete no spam and .invalid---

Now, I hate cutting out with pinking sheers! WAAAY too clumsy! BUT I
love them for trimming certain things later, and softening the edges of
trimmed and graded layers... 'Bout the ONLY thing I cut out with them
(and then not always) is fusible interfacing for jacket parts! Each of
us
has our preferred methods! ;)


--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

What do you do with a fabric that frays while sewing?


Cut on paper (this stops an amazing amount of fraying from handling
before sewing); then staystitch ASAP. Handle gently while sewing, and
sew "directionally". Edge finish as soon as practicable. Even satin is
relatively tame under these conditions.

Kay Lancaster

I have always _cut out_ using pinking shears (taught to do that by my
mother, the perfectionist).

Odd that your mother is a perfectionist and does this, since cutting with
pinking shears is an inexact way to cut. I much prefer to trim later, and know
that my seam allowance is an exact distance from the cut edge.

One thing that helps ravelly fabrics is to keep them pinned to the pattern
paper until just before you sew them together. This works for patterns cut on
the bias, also.


Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

SewStorm wrote:
I have always _cut out_ using pinking shears (taught to do that by
my mother, the perfectionist).

Odd that your mother is a perfectionist and does this, since
cutting with pinking shears is an inexact way to cut.

No, it isn't. What makes you think cutting what is essentially a
_6/8"_ seam allowance instead of 5/8" is inexact? That's exactly what
I do, and I don't have to contend with raveling raw edges _as I sew_.
It really saves a lot of time and frustration to have the edge-finish
done right from the beginning. Mom died in 1971, but while she was
alive designed and made couture clothing for some of the wealthy
people in our area. She developed many time-saving methods, but never
sacrifices quality, which is why she had such a devoted clientele.

I much prefer
to trim later, and know that my seam allowance is an exact distance
from the cut edge.

But, see above...my seam allowances are an "exact distance" from the
cut edge, it's just a 3/4" seam allowance instead of 5/8". If you
were to cut a 3/4" seam allowance with straight shears, would you
still think it was inexact?


One thing that helps ravelly fabrics is to keep them pinned to the
pattern paper until just before you sew them together. This works
for patterns cut on the bias, also.

After snipping notches and marking other construction bits, I usually
do leave each pattern piece pinned to its corresponding fabric. That
in no way reduces raveling, though.

Different strokes :-)

--
Beverly
---to reply, delete no spam and .invalid---

Different strokes :-)

Yup!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati