How to Glue Fabric Down Without Fraying
Fabric can become an embellishment for a variety of projects, from note cards to scrap books and home decor items. If you want to glue fabric onto your project, you will have to take extra steps to prevent that fabric from fraying later on. You can keep fabric from fraying using a variety of techniques, based on your project and how you want the fabric to look.
Things You'll Need
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Pinking shears
- Clear nail polish
- Fabric glue
- No-sew fabric stitch bond
- Paper or cardstock
Instructions
-
-
1
Fold the edges of your fabric under before glueing it down. This method will work best if you want your fabric to have straight edges on your project. Simply cut your fabric slightly larger than you want it to be (approximately 1/4 inch on all sides), and then fold those edges over with wrong sides facing. Use fabric glue to secure the edges down, and let dry. Then glue the fabric onto your piece; now only finished edges will show, and you won't have any raw edges exposed for fraying.
-
2
Use pinking shears to cut your fabric if you want a decorative edge. To keep this embellished edge from fraying, paint the edges of your fabric with clear nail polish before using it in your project. Let the nail polish dry, and glue the fabric to your project as you normally would. The nail polish will keep your fabric from fraying the same way it would keep a run in your panty hose from spreading.
-
-
3
Layer the fabric with other items. If you use your fabric for a scrap book or other flat paper project, for example, you can make a "frame" for your fabric by cutting a frame shape out of paper or cardstock. Glue this frame over your fabric piece so the edges of the frame completely cover the edges of your fabric. This will give your fabric additions more permanency in your project, and also keep them from fraying since the edges will not be exposed.
If you are glueing your fabric to other fabric (for clothing or accessory items, for example), you can use ribbon to make your fabric frame. Fold the ends of the ribbon under before you glue them over your fabric so the ribbon won't fray, either, and the ribbon can serve to "frame" your fabric just like the paper can.
-
1
