Drawing a Thread: 
    
    When woven fabric cannot be torn neatly, it is cut along 
a thread.  In some plaids, checks, and coarse weaves this is 
easy, but for most fabrics, the thread must be drawn first.  
A drawn thread may be removed entirely, or it may be shifted 
or tightened to make it visible.  
    Threads in printed fabric usually show up best when 
shifted.  The distraction of the print makes it hard to see 
where a thread is missing, but one that is shifted, or 
merely tightened so that it rolls a bit, will show up 
plainly. 
    In many fabrics, a tightened thread is almost invisible, 
but a missing thread shows up as a conspicuous thin streak.  
    In some fabrics, a tightened thread will show up plainly 
as a ridge or shiny streak, but not even a powerful 
magnifying glass will reveal a missing thread. 
    In some fabrics a tightened thread doesn't show plainly 
enough to use as a guide, and a missing thread can be seen 
only by transmitted light.  Sometimes slipping a white sheet 
of paper under the cloth will show up the thin streak, 
sometimes cutting with the fabric against a window will 
work, sometimes you have to pull out more than one thread.  
(At least the second thread is easier to get out than the 
first.)  Sometimes I will hold the fabric against a window 
and stroke a sharp #2 pencil down the thin streak to make a 
mark I can see when the cloth is on the table. 
    Examine your fabric and do what is suitable.   

    I find it easier to cut along a drawn thread with the 
rolling knife called a "rotary cutter" than to cut precisely 
with scissors.  The rolling knife allows you to cut very 
slowly while inspecting the work very closely.  (If you are 
myopic, remove your glasses and use your built-in 
magnifier.) 
    If cutting with scissors, put the part you intend to 
keep on the left side of the scissors, where you can see it.  
    (Lefties on the right, of course.  Watch out that your 
"left-handed" scissors are a true mirror image of right-
handed scissors; merely reversing the handle loops does not 
make scissors left-handed.  Because of the sideways forces 
on the scissors, the blades must be reversed as well.) 

    To draw a thread, first snip the fabric as if intending 
to tear.  Tease out one thread, and pull it gently, pulling 
back on the fabric with the other hand so as to pile it up 
in gathers.  
    
Parenthesis:    
    To start drawing in the middle of the fabric, or when 
you don't want to snip the edge, pull up a thread with a 
needle, corsage pin, or stiletto.  (In the rest of the 
thread-drawing discuussion, when I say "pin", I mean any 
long, thin implement with a sharp point.)  When you want to 
pull a thread at a particular mark on a ruler, stab a pin 
straight down at the mark, then remove the ruler and pick up 
a thread with the pin. 
     
End parenthesis. 

    Pinch the fabric with your right (favored) hand to keep 
the thread from pulling back in, and stroke the gathers to 
the left (the other way).  If the gathers fade out before 
reaching the other edge, pull out more thread. 
    If the thread snaps, pull out the loose end and look for 
the end still in the fabric, or leave the thread in and look 
for the break.  (Depending on whether the thread is more 
conspicuous in or out.)  Holding the fabric between yourself 
and the light may help you to find the end.  (Magnifiers are 
discussed under "threading a needle".)   
    Pick the thread up with a pin, and resume pulling.  A 
pair of eyebrow tweezers is very handy at this time.  The 
broken end will be weak, so ease it out of the fabric 
gently. 
    If the other edge is a selvage, the gathers will pile up 
when they reach it.  Snip the selvage cautiously along the 
tight thread.  You will probably cut the tight thread when 
you snip, which will allow the gathers to flatten out.  If 
you don't, break the loop of thread with a seam ripper.  
Push all gathers off the end of the broken thread.  If the 
thread is sufficiently conspicuous now, cut the fabric.  If 
it is not, stroke more gathers across the width until you 
have removed the thread entirely. 

    When you want the thread out entirely, it is easier to 
draw it out in short pieces.  You can snap a thread by 
pushing gathers to the place where you want the thread to 
break, then grasping firmly on each side of the gathers and 
pulling them straight.  Then draw out the end you were 
pulling, and hunt for the broken end with a pin. 
    In many fabrics, hunting for a broken end is tedious and 
frustrating.  In this case, push gathers beyond the place 
where you want the thread to break, then pull up the tight 
thread with a needle.  Secure the needle by weaving it 
through the fabric, then check that you have the right 
thread by pulling the previous end to see whether the loop 
tightens; the secured needle will prevent you from losing 
it.  If you have the correct thread, hold it by the needle 
and push gathers away from it until you have enough thread 
to take hold of, then snip the loop on the side toward the 
old end, and pull the old end out. 
    If the thread is more conspicuous in than out, and if 
you have to pull yards of it, instead of pulling out more 
thread when the first packet of gathers fades out, look to 
see where the thread ceases to be conspicuous. About an inch 
from the end of the conspicuous part of the thread, pick up 
a loop with a pin, then hold the loop with the pin and 
stroke gathers away from it until you have enough loop to 
take hold of with your fingers. (If you use a magnifier for 
this purpose, stick the pin into the fabric beside the loop 
before you put the magnifier away, so that you can find the 
loop after the sudden shift in perspective.)  Pull on the 
leading side of the loop until you have another packet of 
gathers, then continue stroking gathers to the left, leaving 
the loop to dangle.  Repeat as many times as needed to mark 
the desired length. 

    In crepe, finding a broken end is extremely difficult, 
and finding the taut thread to pick up a loop of it is 
impossible.  In this case, one must exercise great caution 
to avoid breaking the thread.  Don't pack the gathers too 
tightly together, don't try to move too big an installment 
of gathers, don't try to move the gathers very far before 
shifting your pinch, don't try to leave the fabric entirely 
flat and pucker-free between packets of gathers.  To cushion 
your grip on the thread, pinch a pleat into the trailing 
edge of the packet of gathers -- this means that you'll lose 
a few gathers off the trailing edge of the packet every time 
you shift your grip, but the second packet to come through 
will pick up as many gathers as it drops, so this won't slow 
the work much. 

    Pulling a thread through fabric slicks back its fuzz, so 
it slips more easily in that direction.  If you pull a 
thread back and forth, it will be harder to pull, and it 
will fray more rapidly, than when it is pulled in one 
direction only. 
    The shorter the thread, the easier it is to draw it.  If 
you have never drawn threads, practice by cutting scraps of 
cotton print into two-inch, three-and-a-half inch, and six-
and-a-half inch squares to make into a quilt.  (This assumes 
quarter-inch seams, which makes each square a half inch 
smaller than the sum of the squares sewn together to make 
it.)  
    You don't have to worry about actually making the quilt, 
as it will take decades to accumulate enough squares by 
cutting up scraps too small to use for anything else.  
    Or you could make a patchwork vest or skirt.  This will 
provide lots of practice with very little anxiety -- the 
material is worth nothing, and the result is *supposed* to 
look funny. 
    Another plan is to cut all your scraps into narrow 
strips of the same width, then piece them into striped 
yardage. 
    Either exercise is very calming in times of stress.  
    (Drawing threads is particularly good at calming anger:  
instead of counting ten before you hit somebody, cut ten 
quilt squares.  If the offender is still around, just draw 
lots of squares and cut them later -- fiddling with knives 
and scissors in that mood might not be wise.) 
                                         
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