How to save time and money on future sewing projects by learning the anatomy of fabric.

The construction of a garment is an art form. A beautiful seam, pressed to perfection, flat fell seams, pleated skirts, princess seams, raglan sleeves, these are all a few of my favorite things. However, construction is also difficult. It is one of the hardest things to get right. It is why I spent many nights stressing about future projects, spent hours crying over my failures, and having such crippling anxiety of giving designs to the world day in and day out. The struggle is real, but the rewards are well worth it. When a design comes to fruition, it brings such euphoria. Over the years I have learned many different tricks of the trade, and this specific topic is probably the most important of them all. Knowing your fabric, is essential to the overall outcome of any design.

The first thing I learned in construction was the anatomy of fabric. It saves time, money, and guess work. Learning the anatomy of a fabric will help make a professional looking garment. In this post I will teach selvages, lengthwise grain, cross grain, bias grain, how to put the fabric on grain and prep the fabric, as well as how to iron properly.

Lengthwise grain

The lengthwise grain is the most important of all grain lines. It does not have much give when stretched top to bottom. When vertical seams or princess seams are stitched together, the lengthwise grain helps to control the stitching and keep it in place. The lengthwise grain is more cost effective when it comes to placing and cutting out the patterns. To determine which part of the fabric is the lengthwise grain, it is fairly simple. Down both lengthwise grains there is something known as the selvage. The selvage is what finishes the fabric. It is the part of the fabric that is more tightly woven than the rest of the fabric. When we prep the fabric, we usually remove the selvage to help with draping, and putting the fabric on grain. In some cases we can use the selvage as a seam finish, since the fibers will not unravel.

Cross grain

The cross grain or weft is the portion of the fabric that runs from selvage to fold. It has more give than the lengthwise grain, and if you cut the fabric on the cross grain it will drape differently. When deciding to cut on the cross grain, it is usually decided by the fabric choice.

Bias grain

Any diagonal angle between the cross grain and the lengthwise grain is bias grain. A True bias grain, however, is exactly 45 degrees from where the cross grain and the lengthwise grain meet. It stretches the most when cut on true bias. It is the least economical of all the grain lines. But it fits the body in ways that woven fabrics usually would not. Because it stretches the most, it is more difficult to stitch. Any fabric that stretches can cause issues in construction. Always keep that in mind when choosing the fabric you will use in your design. Knit fabrics are the hardest to sew because they stretch the most. But we will discuss that further when we get into knit fabrics. From this point forward, you must always think of the end product. The grain lines and how you cut them will greatly impact your design. Knowing the rules is important. Once you know the rules, you can break some of them; however the grain lines are something that cannot be broken.

Grain lines are the most important part of construction. They are the determining factors of how well your project will turn out. Another important factor is prepping the fabric. Now that you know the terminology of the fabric, prepping the material will be easier. Eventually it will become second nature to you, like breathing, or washing dishes. At first it will be tedious, but after a while, it will still be tedious, but you’ll enjoy it more. So here are the steps in prepping the fabric. I used a medium weight plain balanced weave cotton muslin fabric. Muslin is a low grade fabric that is used to make mock ups for fashion designers, it is inexpensive running from 2.99 to 12.99 depending on the length of the cross grain. I recommend investing in some muslin if you would like to follow along with various projects.

Prepping the fabric

These steps apply to all woven fabrics and grain lines:

• Step 1: Lay out the fabric

• Step 2: Match both lengthwise selvages together

• Step 3: Remove selvages by cutting into the fabric where the selvage starts to become more tightly woven. Cut into the fabric along the lengthwise grain a good ½ inch to 1 inch. Then rip the fabric along the cut until the selvage is completely removed. Then do the same to the second selvage.

• Step 4: There are two ways to do step 4, the easiest is with plain balanced weaves like muslin. On the cross grain at the top and bottom of the fabric you will measure 1 and ½ inches or 2 inches from the top and bottom of the fabric. You will cut into the fabric and rip the fabric from the cut to the opposite side of the fabric. Then follow the same procedure at the bottom. If the fabric is made up of polyester or any other filament fiber, you will follow steps 1 through 3, then you will mark from the top and bottom about 2 inches, you will single out one thread from the cross grain, then gently pull the thread out of the fabric. When the thread breaks, find the next thread and continue the process until you can pull one thread out completely. Once you accomplish this, you will have a guideline to cut the top and bottom of the fabric. This step ensures you have an even top and bottom section.

• Step 5: Place the lengthwise grains together again. When you do this, you will notice that the top and bottom fabric are uneven.

When this happens, this means that the fabric is off grain. When a fabric is off grain after construction the project will begin to stretch out of seam. It is unattractive and it makes the project itself undesirable to look at. This is because one side of the fabric is straight of grain, and the other side has a slight bias grain. I will explain how to put the fabric on grain now. It is really easy when the project you are doing is smaller in scope. Maybe a half a yard to a yard in length, if the project happens to be more than a yard, putting it on grain may be a little more difficult. You will have to have a friend help you put the fabric on grain.

Putting fabric on grain

• Step 1: Identify where the fabric is off grain, whichever corner of the lengthwise grain is lower is where we will focus our attention.

• Step 2: Grab the shorter corner of the lengthwise grain at the top and the opposite corner, the bottom fold, and pull gently but firmly. Release and do the same with the bottom portion.

This may take a couple tries to get correct, but once you accomplish putting the fabric on grain, you should have a top and bottom cross grain that is even and ready for the pattern pieces to be placed. This not only will save you money in the long run, it will help prevent waste and get the most out of your fabric.

Finally we have come to ironing. Once you have put your fabric on grain, the rest is straight forward. To finish prepping your fabric, you will iron it. Ironing your fabric is also important because each wrinkle can cause more discrepancies in the overall finished project. A 1/16 inch wrinkle can really add up when there are multiple wrinkles in a fabric. By ironing you have eliminated most if not all discrepancies from your fabric.

When you iron, you will iron along the lengthwise grain, up and down, and across the cross grain, left to right. Never, ever iron in a haphazardly non-directional way. It will affect the threads and stretch your fabric out and you will have to put it back on grain again.

These are tips that you should utilize in all your sewing projects if you want more professional outcomes. Next week we will discuss either stitch lengths, or how to place patterns on the prepped fabric.