Torn Fabric Samples

I went into the metals and wood workshop with a pocket full of scrap fabric with the plan to find a way to make fabric look worn and torn. After a discussion with Rich it was thought that anything that is hand held and can scratch or damage something. I found four techniques to tear into the fabric that were:

• With a hook in a hand power drill, hook into the fabric and power it to leave little holes where the hook tears out. 
• Scraping over it with a file scrapper that cleans them, slowly wearing away at the fabric
• Using a saw to scratch into the fabric, tearing it
• Using a wood rasp which looks like a cheese grater for wood to scrape into the fabric

I found scraping into fabric to be quite difficult as it doesn't stay in place and I had to staple it to a piece of wood. I don't know how it will work with larger pieces or layers. I found that the wood rasp worked the best and easiest to wear into fabric.

I tried the wood rasp on some layers of fabric stitched together. I found that it only tore through the top layer. This could really work but I want to try seeing whether I should stitch it then tear it or tear it then stitch it. It would also help to see how it would look with coloured or patterned fabric to see how it looks in conjunction with the torn fabric.

Hand Drill & Hook

File Cleaner

Hand Saw

Rasp

Rasp on Layers of Stitched Fabric