You don't cover the die with fabric. I have about 1/4" fabric waste around each die. I cut the fabric to fit the blades not the die. I mark 1/4" around the blade. The new dies have two color foam but I still use a Sharpie and draw the 1/4". I don't have any miss cuts so I save more fabric. I draw a line down the middle and diagonal across the shapes too. I can get lots of different shapes from one die. I try all kinds of cuts with the Go. Layer strips on the strip die horizontal and cut squares, you get lots of squares on the long strip die.