What is meant by grain perfect? (2023)

What does grain mean in sewing?

Grain is the direction of the yarns in a fabric. We describe and speak of grain in terms of Alengthwise grain,@ Acrosswise grain,@ and Abias. @ The grain is very important when constructing garments since it determines how a garment will hang, fit and appear on you.

Woven fabrics have a selvage edge that runs lengthwise along both sides. Pattern pieces drafted for woven fabrics will have a line with an arrow at both ends called the grainline. This line should run parallel to the selvages. Most often, the fabric you receive will not have an even crosswise cut.

The three named grains are straight grain, cross grain, and the bias grain. In sewing, a pattern piece can be cut from fabric in any orientation, and the chosen grain or orientation will affect the way the fabric hangs and stretches and thus the fit of a garment.

The warp thread, or lengthwise grain, is the stronger of the two and therefore less likely to stretch out of shape. There are more warp threads per square inch than there are weft threads. These extra threads create strength. The lengthwise grain is the grain most used in garment construction.

Cutting fabric on grain is important because it will ensure that our garment stretches out and wears evenly. It keeps the fabric's threads happy and level. You see, each pieces of fabric is made of thousands of threads.

The terms grain line or grainline are often used interchangeably. When fashion designers and pattern makers talk about grain lines they are referring to the way that a pattern is cut out when it is laid out on a piece of fabric.

Wood grain is the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers or the pattern resulting from such an arrangement.

Why Are They Important? Grainlines are the signposts we need to tell us the direction we need to place our pattern pieces on to the fabric. Remember I mentioned that the warp threads are the foundation of the fabric and the straight grain runs along these threads – well these threads are what the fabric hangs from.

​At the fabric store, the length of the fabric (in yards) is measured along the selvage edge and cut perpendicular to it (cut edge). It is incorrect to cut a fabric piece along the selvage edges as this edge should remain intact and is an essential tool for aligning your sewing patterns in the sewing process correctly.

What are grains examples?

The grain refers to the direction that those threads travel, which can be one of two ways: Lengthwise Grain (Warp): The lengthwise grains, or warp, are the long threads that run parallel to the selvage for the entire length of the fabric yardage. This direction is also sometimes referred to as “straight grain”.

Luxury fabrics are made from fabrics of the finest and highest quality. Silk, cashmere, Pima cotton and leather are first-rate fabrics that designers reach for to create elegant essentials for every wardrobe. They come from natural fibers or the latest and most innovative materials.

It is clear from the figure that the HTPET fabric has the highest tensile strength followed by woven PP fabric, and finally cotton woven fabric. The tensile strength of PP fabric is higher than cotton fabric by 9.6%, while HTPET fabric is higher by 80.9%.

Polyethylene is lightweight, high-strength oriented-strand gels spun through a spinneret and can yield strengths as high as 2.4 GPa. To sum it all, polyethylene is the strongest fabric today. Though it is synthetic, it is still good as long as we use it properly to avoid damaging the environment.

Steam press the fabric starting at the selvages and pushing the fabric toward the fold with the iron. If the fabric is truly off-grain, pull the fabric on the bias, in the direction it needs to be straightened (3). Pull firmly until the edges are even and all corners form right angles.

Fabric grain refers to the direction of the warp and weft threads used in weaving the fabric. Straight grain or lengthwise grain is in the direction of the warp threads, which run parallel to the selvages. These are the long threads of woven fabric that run the entire length of the loom, hence the name lengthwise.

The fabric would sag and pull slightly in the direction of the diagonal, making for an unflattering finished garment. Therefore straightening the edge of grain is a very important, even if a bit tedious, task to do before cutting out pieces.

The straight grain is the grain used most often in garments.

In which way fabric strength is higher?

Synthetic fabrics have better tensile strength than natural fabrics. The fabric made of fine and long staple fibres poses higher tensile strength than coarse and short fibres. If the warp and the weft count of two fabrics are same, then the fabric having more threads per square inch will give higher tensile strength.

Your fabric grain can be off a little bit and it won't affect your project. But if it's off by too much, your designs won't line up when you're trying to match panels and your seams can bunch or stretch because they're actually being sewn too close to the bias.

Here are two things that might happen if you cut your fabric off grain: Your fabric will twist around your body. If it's off-grain, you're cutting closer to the bias, which increases stretch. In drastic cases, if your pattern pieces are not cut on grain, your fabric really will stretch and grow as you wear it.