Perhaps a stupid question

[Julia L.]

I wish we could ask questions anonymously because this is one of those questions which I should probably know, but don't remember if I ever did. If I have a piece of fabric which has been used several times and the selvage markings are long gone, how do I tell where the selvage is?

[Teri L.]

No question is ever stupid! Seriously.

I'm guessing what you're looking for is the straight of grain. Pull on the fabric. Bias will stretch a lot, the length wise grain will not stretch and the selvage to selvage grain will stretch a bit.

Take another piece of fabric that has the selvage and check the stretch of that against the piece you're not certain and that will give you some visual clues.

Happy quilting!
Teri

[Donna N.]

Thanks for asking that question! And for the answer! Over the years I have avoided cutting off the selvages or cutting on length of fabric as opposed to width of fabric. Reason? Because I wouldn't have known where the selvage used to be! I guess I'm a chicken for having been afraid to ask the question. NOW I KNOW!! Thanks again to both of you.

[Paula D.]

Even on the straight of grain, you can tell that there is some "give" on a strip that is cut selvage to selvage. A strip cut parallel to the selvage will have virtually no give. (Someone give a shout out if I have that backwards!)

[Jean H.]

Not a stupid ?
This is a good ? and great answer I had not thought about it, but ya know it will come up at some time ...Jean

[Judy M.]

When I'm assembling blocks I will "test" the grain with a gentle tug to make sure the straight grain is in one direction especially along the edges of the block. When I was in Home Ec (about a hundred years ago :lol: ) my teacher called the selvedge to selvedge the crossgrain and parallel to the selvedge the straight of grain. I've since seen both called the straight of grain--anyone else seen this? Judy in Torrance

[Anne B.]

When I'm assembling blocks I will "test" the grain with a gentle tug to make sure the straight grain is in one direction especially along the edges of the block. When I was in Home Ec (about a hundred years ago :lol: ) my teacher called the selvedge to selvedge the crossgrain and parallel to the selvedge the straight of grain. I've since seen both called the straight of grain--anyone else seen this? Judy in Torrance

Judy, I also learned to call the selvage-to-selvage direction the cross-grain and the parallel-to-the-selvage direction the straight of grain.

Anne in Vancouver, Canada

[Margo C.]

Another thing to keep in mind is that because of the way that fabric is manufactured, the straight of grain (running parallel to the selvages) will have threads that are straight and don't stretch, whereas the cross-grain threads (from selvage to selvage) are often sorta whonky, and will stretch a little, but not as much as the bias edges.
You can see the difference if you tear the fabric from selvage to selvage (like some fabric shops do), and the edges don't line up when you fold it back with the selvage edges together!
And that's why border and sashing strips cut on the straight of grain will give you a flatter border.

EDIT: You can also really tell with woven plaids. Almost always one direction of the threads will be really straight, and the othe direction will be whonky. If it's important to your design, directional fabrics can oftentimes be pulled gently on the bias to straighten the threads. (Thanks to info learned in the early 60s from my mother!)

[Patti P.]

Wow Margo THAT I didn't know. I need all the help I can get with my borders and I'm going to remember that factoid!

[Judy M.]

I'm SO GLAD I had such a WONDERFUL home-ec teacher in the 9th grade! I gritted my teeth so many times at all the information she made us learn, but it has benefitted me so much since I've been quilting. Judy in Torrance

[Hannelore N.]

I just love it when somebody asks a 'stupid question', because most of the time I don't know the answer either and learn something new. So, thanks for speaking up!

[Hannelore N.]

For the record my mother use to say the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked. Also there is no such thing as a dumb question just dumb looks, followed by poor grades and poor work. Ask the question and get it right the first it right the first time. It will get you so much further in the long run. She drove me nuts but she was right. :roll: Just don't tell her I admitted it. :lol:
Ps thanks for all that info I am glad that question was asked.

[Hannelore N.]

I often tell my patients in the hospital where I work: THE ONLY STUPID QUESTION IS THE ONE YOU DO NOT ASK!

I learned straight of grain is the length / longest thread that run along the selvages.... NOW my question is what is the WEFT and what is the WARP threads that are woven when making the fabric. Those are too things I could never keep straight in my messy mind.

[Margo C.]

I often tell my patients in the hospital where I work: THE ONLY STUPID QUESTION IS THE ONE YOU DO NOT ASK!

I learned straight of grain is the length / longest thread that run along the selvages.... NOW my question is what is the WEFT and what is the WARP threads that are woven when making the fabric. Those are too things I could never keep straight in my messy mind.

A search of ASK.COM yields this info:

"What is warp and weft?
Both are weaving terms describing the direction that fibers are attached to the loom. Those that attach to the loom vertically, the warp, are the fibers which run the entire length of a rug. The knots are tied to the warp. The weft threads are the fibers which extend across the width of the rug and which run parallel to the warps. The weft threads hold the pile knots in place."

So....warp is lenghtwise threads and weft are crosswise threads.

[Margo C.]

I find that if you take the fabric in both hands and 'snap' them apart on both grain lines the sound is much sharper on the warp grain than on the weft grain, this is probably because there is less stretch in it.
Warp and weft, I was taught to remember the difference by 'weft to left (and right)', therefore the warp has to be the other one!

hope this helps
yours in the cause
Rosemary