Watch a Marti Michelle video or take some classes. She uses templates with engineered corners and the pieces fit together beautifully. I've been taking some classes and there's a learning curve to it but once you get the hang of it, they're wonderful! What it basically consists of is that you lay your template on the edge of your fabric then lay a long ruler next to it. Move the template up and down your fabric a couple of times until you're sure that the long ruler is straight and the width you want. Remove the template and cut. Then use the template on the strip of fabric that you just cut.