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Post by flanz on Jun 11, 2023 0:45:17 GMT
.... coming apart?
My dear friend made a gorgeous rainbow quilt for our granddaughter to use at our place and I've just washed it three times to remove the strong detergent smell in anticipation of their visit.
There are 10+ areas where the overlapped selvages are have come apart. Some of these are 1.5" long, others are several inches in length. If I reinforce the seams by resewing, it will be visible on the back of the quilt... clearly not a part of the overall design.
However, that seems like my best bet as this is a quilt meant to be loved and used. Is that what you would do?
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Post by Basket1lady on Jun 11, 2023 1:31:32 GMT
By selvage, do you mean the seam allowance? A selvage is the tightly woven long edge of fabric as it comes off the bolt of fabric.
If you do mean the seam allowance, you could always add more stitching throughout the whole quilt. You could continue the random pattern and make the repairs part of the design. If it’s newly made, it’s possible that inexpensive fabric was used and that’s why it’s tearing. Or it it wasn’t quilted enough and the weight of the wet quilt could be too much for it. Or a combination of it all.
If it was made to be used, I’d do the repairs. I’d hand stitch the seams and then add your quilting stitches by hand or machine to stabilize the quilt.
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Post by flanz on Jun 11, 2023 2:49:20 GMT
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Post by flanz on Jun 11, 2023 2:49:47 GMT
And apologies.
I know how to make a hyperlink in an email or word doc, but not here....
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 11, 2023 3:26:18 GMT
Oh.... Guessing the fabric side is fraying?
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lizacreates
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,856 
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Post by lizacreates on Jun 11, 2023 3:27:12 GMT
So it’s actually a selvage quilt. I thought you were talking about the selvage showing at the edges of a quilt.
I understand why you can’t machine sew because those stitches would show up on the backing. I would hand sew the areas where the seams have come apart. Just make sure your needle isn’t going through all the way to the back.
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CeeScraps
Pearl Clutcher
~~occupied entertaining my brain~~
Posts: 3,831
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Post by CeeScraps on Jun 11, 2023 12:00:00 GMT
I agree.....hand sew it.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Jun 11, 2023 15:09:46 GMT
I have an old patchwork quilt made by DH’s grandma and her sister. Some of the fabric used was thin and started fraying. I have hand sewn repairs, all done in white thread. It doesn’t blend, but adds to the homemade feel of the quilt. If I end up with spots I can’t repair, I plant to actually patch with other fabric. I like the idea of adding to the quirkiness of a quilt made with old fabric and adding more.
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Post by rst on Jun 11, 2023 17:12:12 GMT
I would machine stitch repair it, accepting that it's made to be used and loved. You could do a decorative stitch and a colorful thread to repair and then it becomes another "feature". I think it's possible that there will be other areas that come loose over time which will need additional repair. For myself, I know that if I wait to handsew and make an invisible repair, this quilt will get sidelined into a mending basket for a long time. But if I can do a quick, acceptable, and easily repeated repair, it will get a lot of use.
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Post by flanz on Jun 11, 2023 22:14:05 GMT
Oh.... Guessing the fabric side is fraying? In several places two pieces don't seem to have been overlapped enough when initially sewn together. |
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Post by flanz on Jun 11, 2023 22:19:58 GMT
I would machine stitch repair it, accepting that it's made to be used and loved. You could do a decorative stitch and a colorful thread to repair and then it becomes another "feature". I think it's possible that there will be other areas that come loose over time which will need additional repair. For myself, I know that if I wait to handsew and make an invisible repair, this quilt will get sidelined into a mending basket for a long time. But if I can do a quick, acceptable, and easily repeated repair, it will get a lot of use. Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of your input. Truly. lisacharlotte - I love the idea of visibly patching if it becomes necessary After considering all of the above, I am going to machine stitch it, probably using a decorative stitch... still wondering about colorful thread. Thank you, rst ! The back of the quilt is a print that "reads" red... so I'll probably use red thread in the bobbin. I've never actually used a different thread in the bobbin. Like, never. My tension is usually really good (famous last words) so it should be fine. I've never used monofilament thread... which would be the least visible, I imagine. Or maybe I'll use turquoise thread and make it really obvious! |
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Post by rst on Jun 12, 2023 1:43:27 GMT
I think a selvedge edge quilt is the ideal place to try out all kind of new and colorful ideas. If there are some spots where you suspect that the overlap is a bit scant and likely to fray again, you could use some of the wider decorative stitches to effectively darn the area proactively.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 16, 2023 5:19:44 GMT
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Post by flanz on Jun 16, 2023 5:36:03 GMT
That's very kind of you. Thank you! I'm actually going to take rst's advice and sew this particular quilt by machine. It will be obviously patched but for this selvedge type quilt I think it'll be ok. And it IS a quilt meant to be used and abused, so I don't think hand stitching would hold up. I appreciate your looking out for a solution for me! |
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 16, 2023 5:42:34 GMT
That's very kind of you. Thank you! I'm actually going to take rst 's advice and sew this particular quilt by machine. It will be obviously patched but for this selvedge type quilt I think it'll be ok. And it IS a quilt meant to be used and abused, so I don't think hand stitching would hold up. I appreciate your looking out for a solution for me! I was looking at something else and it just popped up.. I was not on a mission to find it.. 😊 |
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Post by Bridget in MD on Jun 16, 2023 11:30:36 GMT
rst the quilt in your profile pic is gorgeous!
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tincin
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,368
Jul 25, 2014 4:55:32 GMT
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Post by tincin on Jun 16, 2023 16:06:27 GMT
Be sure to wash the quilt on delicate with cold water and either hang dry or use low heat to dry it. It sounds like she may have shorted the seams the standard 1/4”. I say mend it so it’s visible because there will likely be more repairs in the future.
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