Understanding about fabric grain is an essential element to know when sewing with woven fabrics. It’s something that new sewists tend to skip over and seasoned sewists occasionally brush off.
Why is fabric grain important. It’s extremely relevant when sewing garments, especially pants. Have you ever owned a pair of jeans where one of the seams twisted towards the front or back?
The reason for this is the manufacturer didn’t bother to look for the fabric grain when cutting out the fabric. Finding the fabric grain is also important when sewing pillows, especially ones with a distinct pattern.
Before starting, there are a couple of steps that need to take place to get you ready to make an envelope pillow.
Pre-Project Steps:
You will need to be familiar with your sewing machine. Have it threaded in a complementary color thread with a new needle (80/12). You may want to sew a few practice seams on some fabric scraps before moving forward.
Another pre-project step would be to wash, dry, and press your fabric. You NEVER want to work with wadded up wrinkled fabric.
What is the Fabric Grain Line?
All woven fabrics (like 100% cotton) have a grain line. This occurs during the manufacture of the fabric when it is being woven. Picture a loom with its long threads stretching out. Those long threads form the fabric grain or the warp.
In the weaving process, shorter threads are woven under and over across these long threads, thus forming a woven fabric. The shorter threads form the crossgrain or the weft.
The bias runs 45-degrees across the grain and will stretch. There are times you want to cut along the bias, but this isn’t one of them.
The grain line runs parallel with the selvage edge. This is the factory edge that is stamped with the manufacturer’s name.
There are two selvage edges on cut fabric, one with the manufacturer’s information and the other that matches the fabric.
The grain lines are the strongest threads in a woven fabric and in most instances, you will want your pattern to run along these lines, making it sturdy.
Try this experiment: Pull your fabric along the grain line (or selvage). Notice that there is hardly any stretch.
Now, pull it across the crossgrain {this would be the edge where the fabric was cut at the store} and notice how it gives a little.
Lastly, pull it along the bias and see how it really stretches.
If you ignore the fabric grain, you may end up with your fabric being cut on a bias, which runs across the grain. The bias will cause your fabric to pucker and stretch; and your project will not fit correctly or may hang funny.
Finding the Fabric Grain Line
What if you are using a scrap of fabric that no longer has a selvage or perhaps you are repurposing something? There is still a way to find the straight grain. Below is a scrap of fabric with unknown grain lines. Since the fabric’s pattern in non-directional, I will need to find the grain.
Pull on the fabric (like I did above) until you find the warp, or grain. Make a 1” snip.
Now, pull and tear across the fabric, leaving a frayed edge. Pull out the excess threads until the top threads are on all along the same line.
That even thread line is your grain line! Now, all you need to do is set this grain line on a straight edge, like a cutting mat, and you will be able to square up the other side.
Isn’t that easy? Please, please remember that the cut edge from the fabric store rarely is square and you will need to find the true grain line before cutting out any project.
credit: www.seasonedhomemaker.com
Why is fabric grain important. It’s extremely relevant when sewing garments, especially pants. Have you ever owned a pair of jeans where one of the seams twisted towards the front or back?
The reason for this is the manufacturer didn’t bother to look for the fabric grain when cutting out the fabric. Finding the fabric grain is also important when sewing pillows, especially ones with a distinct pattern.
Before starting, there are a couple of steps that need to take place to get you ready to make an envelope pillow.
Pre-Project Steps:
You will need to be familiar with your sewing machine. Have it threaded in a complementary color thread with a new needle (80/12). You may want to sew a few practice seams on some fabric scraps before moving forward.
Another pre-project step would be to wash, dry, and press your fabric. You NEVER want to work with wadded up wrinkled fabric.
What is the Fabric Grain Line?
All woven fabrics (like 100% cotton) have a grain line. This occurs during the manufacture of the fabric when it is being woven. Picture a loom with its long threads stretching out. Those long threads form the fabric grain or the warp.
In the weaving process, shorter threads are woven under and over across these long threads, thus forming a woven fabric. The shorter threads form the crossgrain or the weft.
The bias runs 45-degrees across the grain and will stretch. There are times you want to cut along the bias, but this isn’t one of them.
The grain line runs parallel with the selvage edge. This is the factory edge that is stamped with the manufacturer’s name.
There are two selvage edges on cut fabric, one with the manufacturer’s information and the other that matches the fabric.
The grain lines are the strongest threads in a woven fabric and in most instances, you will want your pattern to run along these lines, making it sturdy.
Try this experiment: Pull your fabric along the grain line (or selvage). Notice that there is hardly any stretch.
Now, pull it across the crossgrain {this would be the edge where the fabric was cut at the store} and notice how it gives a little.
Lastly, pull it along the bias and see how it really stretches.
If you ignore the fabric grain, you may end up with your fabric being cut on a bias, which runs across the grain. The bias will cause your fabric to pucker and stretch; and your project will not fit correctly or may hang funny.
Finding the Fabric Grain Line
What if you are using a scrap of fabric that no longer has a selvage or perhaps you are repurposing something? There is still a way to find the straight grain. Below is a scrap of fabric with unknown grain lines. Since the fabric’s pattern in non-directional, I will need to find the grain.
Pull on the fabric (like I did above) until you find the warp, or grain. Make a 1” snip.
Now, pull and tear across the fabric, leaving a frayed edge. Pull out the excess threads until the top threads are on all along the same line.
That even thread line is your grain line! Now, all you need to do is set this grain line on a straight edge, like a cutting mat, and you will be able to square up the other side.
Isn’t that easy? Please, please remember that the cut edge from the fabric store rarely is square and you will need to find the true grain line before cutting out any project.
credit: www.seasonedhomemaker.com
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