Sometimes, fabrics don’t play nice. Like, you have a wonderfully soft, light weight, breathable, utterly perfect fabric you want to use for a chemise, or you found the perfect silk chiffon for a veil, and it’s all wonderful-roses-happy-puppies-GLORIOUS… Until you try to cut it, and shifts all over the blasted place and you can’t get a straight line. Oh, bother… Time to pull a thread. I find this the most tediously annoying process in the entire history of ever*, but there are times when it is the only way you’re going to cut a straight line.
Sample:
Process:
It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Go ahead, try it. Nine times out of ten, the silly thread breaks somewhere in the middle. Bother, again. Hunt it down, pick it out with a pin until you can grab it, and repeat.
If you’re wondering what the big deal with cutting straight is, you’re probably not at a point in your sewing where you need this technique. For the record, though, it’s important because it’s much easier to roll a hem if the hem is straight….
*On the whole, I have a very high tolerance for tediously annoying little crafty processes. This one drives me to drink. Funny story: give me two martinis, and pulling threads because an act of zen-like tranquility….
I have selvage on both sides. Do i have to snip it?
Technically, it depends on what you’re going to do. If you’re not sure, do both. If you’re making a vertical panel for a skirt or drapes or what, yes, do both. If one side is plain but the other is gathered, you don’t need to snip the side that will be gathered. (It will usually be easer to gather if you don’t.)