Sewing ravely fabric

I am sewing this shirt, but the fabric that I’m using is very prone to raveling. I imagine I’m going to be wearing it and washing it a lot, so this could be a problem, especially since I’m spending a jillion hours trying to get it just right.

How do I keep the seams from falling apart?

I made a bag out of another fabric I love and it fell apart the first time I used it, so trying to avoid that.

Thanks!

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@team_sewing

I kicked this over to the “sewing arts” category.
It looks like the Sewing SIG doesn’t have an @ handle.
And I think the usual suspects, like @jrkriehn would be through and weigh in regardless of category or tagging, but I’ll rattle that cage anyway…
I’m curious what you find, since I have ideas (as a non-sewer).

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The best ways I can think of to handle it are either use french seams, bind the edges of the fabric either before or after you sew the pieces together (using a serger, or a zigzag stitch on a regular machine), or use a judicious amount of fray-check on the edges.

French seams require thinking about the seam allowance and planning ahead slightly but the zigzagging I think is the easiest way to keep it together.

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I’ll concur with Cindy.

If you are comfy with your serger, you can overlock the edges BEFORE you start sewing everything together (which allows you to press seams open and still have a little wiggle room if you need to adjust a seam) or overlock the two edges together.

French seaming can also be accomplished with binding techniques or bias tape.

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I agree too. Also, if you want to keep it from unraveling while you’re sewing it Fray check or Fray block can be used for that, but it washes out eventually and isn’t ideal for long term wear.

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I concur with what Cindy, Judy, and Shay have said. Definitely serge and/or use french seams. In addition, if you don’t plan to use Fray check, then I suggest pinking the edges. This prevents it from having a huge long unraveling section while you’re working on it.

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Thank you all! I appreciate it :heartpulse:

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