Why you should never tear your fabric

 

 

    Fabric tearing or ripping is just what it sounds like, a small cut is made at the edge of a piece of fabric and then the fabric is torn or ripped into long strips or squares.  Many people who rip their fabric do so to avoid taking the time to cut the fabric properly.  Fans of fabric ripping claim that the fabric will always tear straight and is easier than cutting, this could not be further from the truth. I can honestly tell you after trying this on several different fabrics that tearing fabric never creates a straight piece of fabric it also distorts the fabric and causes a lot of damage. As a longarm quilter I have seen plenty of people tear long strips of fabric for the borders of their quilts then after the quilts are finished and washed a few times some of the seams start to come apart and they just can't understand why.

If you look closely you can see where the tearing causes damage to the threads of the fabric. The stress to the fabric as well as the distortion make these edges more likely to unravel this in turn makes the seams weaker. Cleanly cutting fabric may not stop it from unraveling but it will not be as bad and cutting fabric will not distort the fabric edge.

    So please just take the time to cut your fabric with scissors or a rotary cute,r you will be so much happier with the results and your seams will be stronger for it.