cblong03 wrote:
Hi Beth, I'm glad to get some info from someone who has actually taken her class. I see from your profile that you are indeed a precision piecer. I may try this on a bigger scale and see if I have better results in my accuracy. It was a little surprising to me to see how far off grain that one piece that I did straighten her way was. Thanks for posting!
Kathy

cblong03 wrote:
Does Harriet recommend straightening the grain lines, or just starching it so much that it doesn't matter?

I'm a huge fan of starch myself, and haven't straightened fabric in 30 years UNLESS it was a stripe that I wanted to be sewn in a straight line!

I swear by Harriet Hargrave's method of straightening; I've used it ever since I took her Precision Piecing class. I starch it, until it can walk away on its own. Make's it so much easier to quilt it, later on. Good luck and happy straightening!

Margo, I must have gone to the same teacher as your mother. I was taught that the matching of stripesand plaids is a sign of a good quality garment.

The first time I took my daughter to a fabric store so she could pick out prom dress material, the lady did the ripping thing and I thought my daughter would have a stroke when she heard the fabric torn. It was quite funny.

I clip the selvage, pull on a thread until it breaks, cut on the line, then continue pulling a thread until I'm across the width of fabric. I haven't done this in a long time. Drapery fabrics were easier to do because of the heavier threads.

ajclapp wrote:
Annis,
How do you pull a thread out? I've tried back in my garment sewing days but never could do that.

The one piece of fabric I straightened with the Harriet Hargrave method, I was surprised at how off grain it was, and how well it came back into straightness (is that a word?). The pattern is a shirting with bitsy directional motifs so it's coming out nice in the blocks. I just never know with these bits of advice from books that are so different from what I'm used to doing, if they are a good idea that no one does, or if there's a reason no one does them.

Well, it's only fabric, right? I have 600 yards of it in my stash, give or take, so a little experimenting won't take it down much

Kathy

Stretching from corner to corner is how I did it too for my many years of clothing and drapery making. I usually pulled a thread instead of tearing though. But for all of these tiny pieces I cut out for quilts I'm not so concerned that the grain of the fabric is perfectly straight in both directions as long as my pieces are square. I do still stretch my woven plaids though to keep them straight but just cut on the lines on my printed plaids and stripes.

pam7040 wrote:
Me, too, Pam! Been there, done that!! And Mother was a real stickler for matching the lines of stripes and plaids, but would never dream of using them together!
She made slip covers for interior decorators, so she walked the walk, and every cover she ever made was matched up and the lines were perfectly straight! We pulled a lot of yardage!!

I remember more years ago than I care to remember, when I did alot of dressmaking it was very important to have the fabrics straightened. My mum and I would stand with each of us holding 2 diagonally opposite corners and gently tugging the fabric first one way diagonally and then the other. Eventually it would come straight and the garment would hang perfectly when finished. I hope that makes sense. If not I am sure someone else can explain it more clearly.

Hi, I just watched Sharon Pederson's classroom video on straightening fabrics, and that's the way I've been doing it. However, I have one of Harriet Hargraves books "quilter's academy" where she advocates tearing the fabric, and lining up the selvages, then persuading the fabric to go back on grain through pressing and spray starch by matching the torn edges. I've never heard of this one before. I did try it on a piece of fabric that came from the quilt shop off quite off grain, and it did work. Has anyone ever heard of this method, or used it? Seems like a waste of fabric to tear off strips from either end, but if it works, then it might make my piecing better. I made loads of HST's and flying geese past few days and the pattern on the fabric isn't all wonky like it usually is, and the flying geese don't ripple.

Kathy