Everything above describes woven cloth. Knitted cloth (T-shirt material, leggings fabric) is made of loops, not crossing threads, so it has no grain in the woven sense. Instead it has ribs running along its length and courses running across. Cut knits with the ribs running down the body, just as you would the lengthwise grain. You cannot pull a thread or tear a knit; follow one rib by eye or with a marked line instead.

Some wovens also resist the pulled-thread trick: very tight weaves where the thread snaps, and loose open weaves where it pulls out of line. On these, line up the selvedge against a table edge or a long ruler and mark the crosswise line with chalk against a set square.

To learn how different fibres and weaves behave – and which ones shrink, fray or stretch most – see our free course Know Your Fabrics.

• Snip-and-pull beats guessing. Even cloth that looks straight off the bolt is usually cut slightly off grain in the shop.
• If the pulled thread snaps, ease the gathers down the line, find the broken end at the pucker, and pick it up again. You do not need one unbroken pull.
• Wash dark colours separately the first time. Pre-washing also reveals colours that bleed, before they can ruin a finished garment.
• Add a vinegar or salt soak for cottons you suspect will bleed – traditionally said to help fix colour. Test on a corner first; it does not work on every dye.
• Zig-zag or pink the raw ends before machine-washing loosely woven cloth, or it can fray badly in the wash.
• Press, don’t iron. Lift and set the iron down; dragging it diagonally can push the cloth off grain, undoing your work.
• Keep the selvedge on until you lay out the pattern. It is your permanent grain reference.
• Mark the right side with a small chalk cross on the wrong side of each piece if the two faces look alike – easier now than after cutting.
• Checks and stripes show grain for you. If a woven check will not sit square when you fold the cloth, the cloth is off grain, not the print.
• Printed cloth can lie. On cheaper prints the pattern is sometimes stamped slightly off grain. Grain wins: a garment cut to the print but off grain will twist. If the print is badly off, the cloth was never going to make a straight garment.
• Buy a little extra of any cotton you plan to pre-wash, to allow for shrinkage – a common allowance is around five per cent, more for loose weaves.

The cloth shrank after the garment was made.

1. Let out the seams and let down the hem if the allowances permit – one reason tailors in India cut generous allowances.
2. If it is cotton, a careful damp press and firm stretch while pressing can recover a little length, though not a full size.
3. Prevention: always pre-wash washable cloth before cutting, in the same way the garment will be washed.

The finished garment twists around the body.

1. Check the side seams: if they spiral to the front or back, the pieces were cut off grain. Re-cutting is the only true fix.
2. If the twist is slight, pressing the garment firmly along its seams may reduce the look of it, but it will return with wear.
3. Prevention: straighten the ends and check the grain of every piece before cutting, not after.

The pulled thread keeps snapping.

1. Pull more gently, easing the gathers along the cloth between pulls instead of dragging the thread.
2. Dampen the line lightly; a slightly damp thread pulls more smoothly on crisp cotton.
3. Prevention: on hard-finished or very fine cloth, skip the pull and mark the crossline with a set square against the selvedge instead.

Tearing left a stretched, rippled edge.

1. Press the torn edge flat with steam; most of the ripple will settle.
2. Plan your layout so the stretched 1–2 cm nearest the tear falls outside the pattern pieces.
3. Prevention: tear only firm, plain cottons, and pull a thread on everything else.

The colour bled in the pre-wash.

1. Be glad it happened now and not on the finished garment. Wash again, alone, until the water runs clear.
2. If it never runs clear, treat the cloth as wash-alone for life, and do not pair it with pale linings or contrast panels.
3. Prevention: test every strong colour on a wet corner pressed against white cloth before the first full wash.

The folded cloth will not lie flat; the fold ripples.

1. The two grains are not square to each other. Pull the cloth firmly along the bias, corner to corner, in the direction that squares it.
2. Press after pulling, then re-fold and check again. Repeat until the fold lies flat.
3. Prevention: straighten both cut ends on grain first; you cannot judge squareness against a crooked end.

Pressing marks or shine appear on the cloth.

1. Press the shiny patch from the wrong side through a damp cotton pressing cloth; steam lifts most shine.
2. Lower the iron temperature and test on a scrap before continuing.
3. Prevention: match the iron setting to the fibre, and press dark or delicate cloth from the wrong side, or through a pressing cloth, from the start.

Mistakes

• Skipping the pre-wash to start sooner. The most common cause of a finished garment that no longer fits.
• Cutting on creased cloth, which hides length and gives uneven pieces.
• Trusting the shop’s cut edge as a straight line. It almost never is.
• Cutting off the selvedge early and losing the grain reference.
• Ironing diagonally across damp cloth and pushing it off grain.

Myths

• “Good cloth doesn’t shrink.” Shrinkage is about fibre and weave, not price. Expensive cotton shrinks too.
• “Grain only matters for tailored clothes.” Even a simple nightie or pyjama twists if cut off grain.
• “You can always tear cotton to find the grain.” Tearing is safe only on firm plain weaves; it damages loose weaves, fine cottons and silks.
• “Pre-washing is just an old habit.” The habit survives because it works: it removes shrinkage, excess dye and factory finish in one step.

1. Feel the three directions: on a scrap of woven cotton, pull along the length, across the width and on the bias. Say which is which without looking at the selvedge.
2. Pull a thread: straighten one end of a half-metre of cotton by pulling a thread and cutting along the line. Check it against a table edge.
3. Shrink test: cut a measured 20 × 20 cm square of new cotton, wash and press it, and measure again. Write the loss on a card and pin it to your fabric notes.
4. Full preparation: take one metre of new cotton through every step – straighten, pre-wash, press, square the fold – ready for the next lesson’s layout.

As a hobby: preparing cloth is a calm, almost meditative start to any project, and the pulled-thread trick is deeply satisfying. Keep a small notebook of each cloth you prepare and how much it shrank; it becomes your personal fabric guide.

For earning: a tailor who pre-washes and straightens is a tailor whose garments still fit after the first wash – the thing customers remember and return for. Make preparation a stated part of your service, and build the extra day it takes into every delivery promise.

For teaching: let students feel grain before you name it: pass round a square of cloth and have them pull it in three directions. Pre-wash demonstration squares in advance so a one-hour class can compare washed and unwashed cloth side by side.

• Can you point to the selvedge, lengthwise grain, crosswise grain and bias on any woven cloth?
• Can you say why a garment cut off grain twists?
• Have you straightened an end by pulling a thread?
• Do you know which of your fabrics must be pre-washed, and which only pressed?
• Does your prepared cloth fold selvedge to selvedge with a flat, ripple-free fold?

If all five are yes, your cloth is ready for the next lesson: laying out, pinning and marking.

• Warp / lengthwise grain: the strong threads running the length of the cloth, parallel to the selvedge.
• Weft / crosswise grain: the threads running across the cloth, edge to edge.
• Selvedge: the firm woven border along both long edges; it never frays.
• Bias: the 45-degree direction, where woven cloth stretches most.
• Off grain: cut so the grain does not run where the pattern intended; causes twisting.
• Pre-washing: washing cloth before cutting, to take out shrinkage and loose dye.
• Pressing: lifting and setting the iron down, rather than sliding it, to flatten without distorting.