Trim the cut or torn edges of fabric with a pinked edge rotary cutter. I keep a pinking blade in an old cutter and use it for this purpose. Really cuts down on the unraveling and stringy tangled mess in the washer. Nancy P.
Great tip, I will try this if i ever pre-wash
[Ava, Missouri
I don't usually prewash but I have tried this in the past with just regular scissors clipping the corners off. It does work. Sometimes I am forced to wash donated fabric and I do this. I know people that serge all the way around the fabric before the prewash. Yikes! Sounds like too much work to me. :-)
I make a diagonal cut on the corners of the fabric--this works too.
Leslie
I am with you. If I ever decide to prewash this would work great. I used to use pinking shears on all my fabrics when I made clothing to prevent fraying.
Vinton, Virginia
Why cut off the corners?
hi peggy, it keeps it from unraveling at the edges.
do you suppose ravel is a word/ gini
gini in north idaho
oh kay, so this is interesting. ravel and unravel mean the same thing, in fact, one of the definitions for ravel is unravel. i think the edges of my fabric are going to ravel from now on.
gini: oh kay, so this is interesting. ravel and unravel mean the same thing, in fact, one of the definitions for ravel is unravel. i think the edges of my fabric are going to ravel from now on.
Granny M
Good to know both of the methods. Thanks. I just made a t-shirt quilt for my son and he wanted it to be very soft and so I used flannel for the backing. Because I was warned to wash it because flannel shrinks so much and when it came out of the washer/dryer it was really frayed! Long strings of threads were hanging off the cut edges. Yuck! I will definitely try this(these) methods next time.
But just think- ---- you can put those ravels out for our bird friends to use in their nest building!
Griffin, GA
Where can I find a pinking edge rotary cutter. Haven't found one yet
LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!
-Aunty Mame-
Marge (AKA Dimples):you can put those ravels out for our bird friends to use in their nest building!
Good tip, Marge! I'm going to dig through my sewing room garbage to grab all kinds of thread bits to set out in the garden - that is if spring ever gets here.
On the banks of the Mississippi River in north central Minnesota (Brainerd lakes area)
Jane - I have seen the pinking edge rotary blade in Nancy's Notions catalog.
Nancy - I have some strings of flannel hanging on some of the azaleas. Dave was fussing about it but he puts up with me.