8 Tips for Sewing With Fabric That Frays a Lot

If you’ve ever tried to sew with a fabric that just kept fraying, you know how much of a nightmare it can be. It feels like all you do is look at the fabric, and all of a sudden the whole seam allowance has frayed away.

With some planning ahead and careful fabric handling, you can use fray-prone fabric with confidence. Don’t get me wrong, it will still be a pain to deal with, but nothing will stop you from using whatever fabric you want for your next project, even if it frays a lot.

1. Handle your fabric pieces as little as possible

Minimizing contact with your fabric can significantly reduce fraying. Constant handling causes fibers to loosen, making them prone to unraveling. Avoid stretching or pulling them. Gentle handling preserves the integrity of the weave. 

It helps a lot to make sure you are already familiar with whatever sewing pattern you are using. Making a mockup first with an easier fabric or at least reading through a fully understanding the instructions can help you know what you need to do and the order it needs to happen so you don’t make mistakes. Because most of the time, you can’t unpick and redo seams with fabrics that fray too much.

2. Finish the edges before you start sewing

If your fabric is the kind that feels like it’s disintegrating way too fast, you may want to finish the edges before you start sewing. This count mean cutting the pattern pieces with pinking shears, zigzag stitching the edges, or finishing the pattern pieces with an overlock or serger.

While this is often necessary for the worst fraying fabric offenders, I don’t recommend this for all fabrics. Finishing the edges early like this can eat up some of the edge of the fabric, altering your seam allowance. For loose fitting clothes, this doesn’t matter too much, but every millimeter counts with tight fitting garments, so keep that in mind if you choose to go this route.

3. Give yourself extra seam allowance

When working with fabrics that fray, you don’t want to use a narrow seam allowance. Usually, the standard ⅝ inch or 2 cm will work fine, but if you’re using a pattern that has a smaller seam allowance than that, you’ll want to add some of your own before cutting your pattern pieces.

4. Trim fraying edges before hemming or finishing seams

Don’t try to finish a seam or hem a garment that has a whole bunch of fraying yarns making a mess at the edge of the fabric. You’ll end up with an ugly that is not straight or even very secure. 

Using sharp fabric shears, trim the fraying areas and make everything as smooth, even, and neat as you can. Then finish the seam or hem them garment. This will keep the loose threads from continuing to pull and unravel, and it will make for much neater hemlines.

5. Stabilize high-tension areas (such as button holes and pockets)

High tension areas can easily fray, compromising the durability and appearance of your sewing projects. Buttonholes, and the fabric behind pockets are some common areas that are particularly susceptible.

To tackle this, try using small pieces of fusible interfacing to reinforce any area that will see a lot of stress. By fusing the interfacing to the fabric, you are providing extra support and rigidity and you’re stopping the fraying in its tracks.

6. Use fray check on corners

Fray check is a type of fabric glue that dries invisible and prevents fabric from fraying. If the garment you’re making has any sharp corners where the fabric needs to be clipped close to the thread, use a dot of fray check to keep your fabric intact.

Another solution to try in addition to fray check is to use a reduced stitch length in these areas. Shorter stitches create a denser seam, which can help resist fraying at these really delicate corners. Because once a corner starts fraying, the only thing you can do is sew it smaller, there is no unpicking and trying again.

7. Do not use snips as pattern marks (use chalk/marker or tailor’s tacks)

It’s super common for us sewists to use little snips in the fabric as pattern markers to line up pieces of the pattern. Do not do this with fabric that frays a lot! This will only cause it to fray more quickly.

Instead, use chalk, erasable fabric markers, or tailor’s tacks with thread to mark any pattern symbols that you need to transfer from your paper patterns. These methods are much less invasive and preserve the integrity of your fabric.

8. Use enclosed seam finishes whenever possible

Using enclosed seam finishes can significantly improve the durability of garments made from fabrics that fray a lot. While the standard overcast zigzag seam finishes or overlocked seam finishes are fine and will work, they are not the most durable (never use pinking shears to finish fabrics that fray a lot, it won’t even last one wash cycle).

Some seam finishes you can try include:

1. French seams: Ideal for delicate and lightweight fabrics. These seams are sewn wrong way first, then flipped to enclose the raw edges, preventing fraying and giving a neat finish.
2. Seam bindings: This wraps the raw edges with a strip of fabric or bias tape. This technique is a bit bulkier, but works well on fabrics that fray heavily. It’s often used on unlined coats and jackets for a clean finish.
3. Flat felled seams: These are strong and durable, commonly used in jeans and workwear. They fold the raw edge of the seam allowance over and sew a parallel line next to the seam to enclose the raw edges.