Wide Back Fabric - Rip or Cut??
First of all, let me preface this article by telling you that I am expressing my opinion and suggestions based on my experience with Wide Back (108" & larger) fabric. As you know, there are as many opinions about all quilting techniques as there are quilters. I always tell my students and customers to try everything and use what works for you.
Fabric is rolled on a bolt by a machine that is loaded by a human whose job is to produce as many bolts as possible per day. Since speed is of the essence, loading accuracy is marginal at best. Plus, as the machine winds the fabric, that fabric stretches and moves and gets distorted. You may have noticed this if you cut strips from your fabric and they form a “V” at the fold instead of being nice and straight. Batiks are notorious for this because they are often put on the bolt while they are still damp, so they are more likely to dry on the bolt very distorted. Wide backs have an extra fold due to the extra width, which makes them quite susceptible to this problem. Batik Wide Backs are the worst!
So how can you make a straight cut on a Wide Back from the bolt with a rotary cutter? Well, the answer is, you can’t. I have seen rotary cut wide backs that are up to 6” wider on 1 end than the other. I have also seen rotary cut Wide Backs that were fairly even at each end but “hour-glassed” about 4” in the center. (NOTE: Make sure you are purchasing the correct amount of backing so that your backing is at least 5”-6” larger than your quilt top on all 4 sides!!) As a long arm quilter, I can tell you that these circumstances require a lot of work by your long arm quilter just to be able to load the Wide Back onto the frame.
The best way to “cut” a wide back is to tear it from selvage to selvage. What???? Yep. Just make a little snip through the selvage about 1/2”-1” from 1 edge of the fabric, and then tear it all the way across to the opposite selvage. If the tear doesn’t quite make it to the other selvage, move down along the same selvage a little bit, make another little snip, and then tear. The more distorted and off grain the fabric is, the more snips & tears you will have to do to make it all the way across the fabric on 1 continuous tear. I like to just snip a little at a time instead of snipping an inch or two at a time. That way you can make sure you are tearing off the least amount necessary to get a straight edge. The goal is to make sure you can pull 1 continuous thread from one selvage to the other. That way you know the fabric is torn straight on grain. This is important so that your quilt will load and advance correctly on the long arm machine and will lay flat without tucks and creases. Make sure you start all of your tears from the same end of the selvage.
But what about the rough edge after you tear? The rough edge is caused by spreading the tightly woven threads apart as the fabric is torn. If it bothers you, you can steam it flat. However, It usually only amounts to about a 1/4” - 3/8” and will end up on the outside edges of your quilt that will be cut off when you trim your quilt to bind it. If you have to make a seam where the torn edges are, just make a bigger seam such as 3/4” - 1” and press it open.
What about the fabric curling right where you start to tear it? This can be ironed flat if it bothers you, but again, this will be at the outer edge of your quilt and will be cut off when you bind the quilt.
What if your wide back still doesn’t appear to be straight after you tear it? You may also need to square up your back after ripping.. Just grab a few friends and pull on the corners until it gets pulled back into shape.
Another way is to put your Wide Back on your design wall or on your carpeted floor using T-Pins and a T-Square. Be sure to use a measuring tape and your T-Square to make sure you are laying the fabric out and pinning straight. Put your T-Pins in at an angle so that it is holding the fabric snuggly. Once pinned, spritz your backing with water and let it dry. (Be careful with Red & Dark Blue Batiks, which are the most common colors to bleed excess dye).
It is also recommended that you pre-wash Wide-Backs because they can shrink up to 5%. (For 108" fabric, that is over 5" from selvage to selvage!) Lower quality fabrics can shrink more than that. It would be better to have this shrinkage happen before it is quilted to your beautiful quilt top. So between the tearing and the shrinking, you may also want to consider purchasing an extra 1/4 yd of Wide Back fabric. The pre-washing will also help with squaring up your Wide Back as the fibers is relax in the water. Pre-wash the fabric in the same conditions as you will use to wash the finished quilt...gentle cycle with cool water and tumble dry on a low setting.
NOTE: I can't stress enough how important it is to make sure your backing is at least 5”-6” larger than your quilt top on all 4 sides.
Feel free to make comments (keep them nice and on point, please). What has been your experience with Wide Backs?
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