Whether you are sewing a quilt, a garment or cosplay, or any sewing project, it is important to understand fabric selvages and how to work with them.
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The selvage is the side edge of the fabric where it comes off the machine that creates it! Some are printed to the sides, and some have a white edge with information on it – sometimes the brand or print name, sometimes some small dots of color that you can use when trying to match fabrics.
But ALL of them are woven at a tighter gauge than the main fabric! Which is why, even if the color runs all the way to the edge, or even if the white band looks small and like it will hide in the seam allowance, you do not want to cut your pieces all the way to the edge! If you do, the pulling that occurs will wreak havoc on your seams and they will not lay flat.
It is so tempting, if you have a piece with a straight side for a quilt or a garment to line it right up against that edge to save on cutting, but it’s always a bad idea!
Two notable exceptions! Some quilters like to make pouches or other projects using ONLY selvages! It is a fun way to be reminded of many of the fabrics you have used over your sewing career, and also gives you some material that would otherwise be wasted. If you want to use selvages as part of a project you will want some of the print to show so when you are trimming the side edges, leave yourself an inch or two of print in addition to the selvage.
And sometimes you are just slapping something together quickly – maybe a big rectangular project like a duvet cover, and you are more interested in saving time than in perfection. In this case – use the tips of your scissors to make little angled cuts along the selvage – much like you would when clipping a curve – to take some of the tension off the sides. This will help your seams lay flat.
Stay tuned – next week I will be making a bag with vintage handles out of these adorable prints!
