stop fraying on broadcloth, muslin, etc without glue...?

[cyclamen]

Hi -

I made a skirt out of muslin and tulle, with broadcloth flowers - I wanted it to have a raw look, so I left some edges unfinished, as well as the edges of the flowers I appliqued onto the skirt.  The skirt is cut on the bias and the flowers were sort of cut out any which way. I did a straight stitch along the top and bottom hems (my machine doesn't have zig zag) and I also stitched along the edges of the flowers.  But I'm still afraid to wash it because I like the way it looks now, with a little bit of fray, but not if it will get really bad and gross looking.

Does fray check make the fabric stiff?  Oh, I am poor anyhow, and don't have any "fun money" left in my budget this month.  Should I just stick to hand washing it?  Does anyone know if the straight stitching will be sufficient to keep my skirt from raveling to bits, because I really like it.

Thanks...

[molkearns]

Yes fray check will make it stiff like glue. You might be able to use some fusible interfacing on the back of the skirt & flower to stop more fraying but it could shrink differently than the fabric when you wash it. You could test a piece...

[JennaPotter]

Since you don't want the fray to get any bigger, you could just run a line of stitches of where you want it to stop, it acts like a stop border. This way the fray doesn't get any bigger. You don't need to use a zigzag since you don't have one. Definately wash by hand so the fraying doesn't get worse.

[Randommarble]

perhaps do a second parallel line to the current line of stitching as 'back up'

[cyclamen]

I think I'm gonna do a second line of stitching and handwash.  Thanks!  I just wanted to hear from someone else that the stitching would probably keep it from fraying, since I wasn't sure it would...