I sent an email from the Marti Michell website requesting info on the ruler. Patti Bachelder responded this morning. Her title is Graphic Designer.
Hi Barb,
That’s a pretty old tool! I’ve worked here 22 years and have never seen one.
Marti designed the Second Cut Ruler for a notions company a very long time ago and we actually have none of those rulers or the instructions. I have a picture of one, however, and here’s how I would use it. The straight lines are obvious (the outer 1/4 inch is the seam allowance for whatever size strips or square you want, up to 2 inches). For the angles, I would use the Second Cut Ruler just to “find” the angles and cut with a regular longer ruler. It actually looks very handy for this.
Say you wanted to cut a strip with a 60-degree angle at the end. True up the end of your fabric. Align the 60-degree line on the Second Cut Ruler with the trued-up edge, so the ruler is at an angle on the strip and cut. If you wanted to cut 60-degree parallelograms, you would just cut that first angle and then align a regular ruler on the angle so the ruler is on the strip at that angle and cut against the regular ruler.
For bigger pieces of fabric, you could true up one edge and align the 60-degree line on the trued-up edge. Then align a second ruler (3 x 18 or 6 x 24 inches) along a long edge of the Second Cut Ruler and remove the Second Cut ruler so what’s left on the fabric is the bigger ruler. Then cut your fabric along the edge of the bigger ruler. You’d have to play around with putting the regular ruler at the top or bottom of the Second Cut Ruler to make cutting against the longer ruler feel natural. Being left or right handed would mean the fabric were to your right or left, and then you’d play around with putting the 45-degree angle on the trued-up edge to work out where the Secod Cut Ruler works best for you and where the regular ruler will make it easier to cut.
It would be easier to show you, but we don’t have a video setup. If you have trouble imagining what I wrote, let me know.
Create a great day,
Patti Bachelder