How To Make Selvedge Fabric - A Fast & Easy Tute

How To Make Selvedge Fabric - A Fast & Easy Tute

This week I've made a laptop case using selvedges and I thought I'd share with you how I create selvedge fabric.

When I buy a piece of fabric I remove the selvedges along both edges by folding the fabric in the correct direction to cut them off as full-length strips.  It's up to you how wide you cut them, you may want to cut them wider and see more of the original fabric design. 

 I line the selvedge edge up with a 1" line on the cutting mat and then 1/8" line of my ruler on the next 1" line - lining the ruler over the larger amount of fabric helps hold the fabric in place so it doesn't move while I'm cutting though you do risk making a wrong cut into your selvedge.

Update on 11 February 2017

These days I'm cutting my selvedges at 1" instead of 7/8" to allow me to retain more of the print design.  The rest of the process of creating the fabric remains exactly the same😊.

Update on 11 September 2018

Making fabric from my selvedges has become an important part of my design so these days I have increased the width of the selvedge I cut off a piece of fabric.  I'm now cutting at 1-1/8".  This gives me more wiggle room for overlapping the fabrics and leaves more of the print section visible on the text selvedge edge. The rest of the process in creating the fabric remains exactly the same😊.

To make selvedge fabric first I take a piece of batting or backing fabric - whatever suits the outcome of your project best - and cut it at least an inch wider and longer than the finished size of selvedge fabric that I need.

Next, I spray it all over with basting spray such as 505 (temporary/repositionable) fabric spray adhesive - using a repositionable adhesive means you can change the strips around until you're happy with the look. 

Now comes the fun part - lay your selvedges row by row onto the now sticky backing fabric. Start at the bottom edge of the 'fabric' placing the frayed/finished edge bottom-most.  Overlay the next selvedge over the cut raw edge - slightly overlapping it.  You may want to vary the amount you overlap the selvedges by so you can see more/less of the colour/design/text. You can use more than one selvedge along a particular row - using up shorter lengths of selvedge - just lay them side by side and leave the side edges raw, any fraying will be minimal and adds to the look of the finished fabric (as in the top row being placed in the photo above)

Once the backing batting/fabric is completely covered with selvedges you are ready to sew the selvedges in place.  (If you are creating a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) block then at this stage you can spray baste your backing fabric to the made fabric.)  The spray basting should hold the selvedge strips firmly in place while you complete this stage.

I sew/quilt over the length of the selvedges using my 1/4" foot as a width guide.  I choose one very straight edged selvedge as a marker for my first row of stitches and then use this as a loose guide for my next rows 1/8" to 1/4" apart - I'm not looking for a perfectly straight line finish here.  Placing the stitch lines so close together firmly fastens down all the selvedge edges and creates the fabric.  

There're other methods of attaching selvedges that leave the finished edge of each selvedge strip loose from the background fabric but this I like that my method ensures each strip is well attached and often I use a contrasting thread so the stitching becomes part of the finished design also.

Here's a finished QAYG selvedge block that I made last year as part of my Something NEW Sampler Quilt.

This block contains selvedges from all the fabrics used in making the quilt.

This is how the back of the fabric will look - in this case, you're seeing the backing fabric of the QAYG block but if you've just used a backing fabric or batting then you'll see that instead.

Once you've finished your 'made' selvedge fabric then you can trim the edges/cut the fabric to size and use in your chosen project.  And that's all there is to making selvedge fabric!!!

Check out my other Selvedge posts:

 

This time, I used it to make a laptop case 

 

Crazy about that Kaffe Fassett blue Millefiore lining 

 

  

I love selvedge fabric - it's so individual and scrappy looking, there's always something to look at and read!

 

I've wondered about crocheting/knitting with my selvedges too - have you tried it?  I've crocheted/knitted with lots of materials in the past - one of my favourites is plastic carrier bags - great for making waterproof garden table place/drink mats and chair covers but that's a whole other post!

Do you save your selvedges?  If you do then share what you've made and if you've used a different method to make selvedge fabric tell us about that too.

Updated On 21 April 2014:
The laptop case was a present for my daughter's friend Hayley and here's a photo Flicky sent me of Hayley with her case which she tells me she uses every day.  The photo is also proof that the sun does shine sometimes in St Andrews, Scotland!

Updated at 11 September 2018

I've used a piece of selvedge fabric for a cushion back - I looove how this looks, don't you?

See more about this cushion here in this blog post.

and another I made last year - read more about it here.

How To Make Selvedge Fabric - A Fast & Easy Tute

Featured On:

Clicking on an image will take you through to the new page of crafty goodness :)

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.