Help with cross-grain cutting?
 

I’m hoping someone(s) can give me some pointers on this. I’m about to cut fabric on the cross grain for binding strips, and I’m remembering how terrible I am at lining up selvages so that my strips come out straight and even. No matter how many posts and tutorials I read and watch, I seem to find it impossible to actually line things up properly so that my cut fabric strips don’t end up with weird bends in the middle. I’m looking for help on how to line up selvages better so that my cut strips have straight and perfectly (or close enough) parallel edges along the long sides.

Or am I worrying too much – do you find it acceptable to have a little wobble in your long cut edges ?

Thank you for any help you might have to offer!

Judy

For a very long time I always had the V shape in my strips no matter how I tried. Then discovered that my ruler was not straight, causing the weird bend or V shape. Try a different ruler. I fold the fabric in half and then half again. Sometimes it just is not possible to line the fabric from selvage to selvage. Just get it close as you can. A little wiggle shouldn't be to much of a problem for the binding.

Salvage edges are woven tighter than the fabric yardage, often causing them to not be straight/ even. Start with cutting off the salvages so you have straight edges. Fold your fabric in half once making sure your fold is straight. Placing the fold on a line of the cutting mat remember the fold is your straight edge, don't fuss with the raw edges. The straight fold edge is the part that is important. Place your 45* (degree) line of your ruler on the fold and cut your strips.

It is important the the ruler is a the absolute right angle to the fold to prevent V's. Before cutting your strips, line up the selvages and fold the fabric to meet the selvages. Place a large square on the double fold and this gives you the right angle for ruler cutting. After trimming, you can start cutting your strips but check with the square to make sure you are holding your ruler at the proper angle. Here are pictures[ATTACH=CONFIG]560547[/ATTACH]

Now that the edge is straight, I can start cutting 2-1/4 inch binding strips off but check each time with my square that I am holding my skinny ruler at the perfect right angle to the double fold edge.[ATTACH=CONFIG]560548[/ATTACH]

If you Google continuous bias binding there are several good videos showing how to do it and not have a lot of wasted fabric. Good luck;0)

Thank you!!!!!!!!

I have never tried cutting off the selvages before, and will definitely follow that and all your other helpful suggestions. Yes that pesky V-shape is one of my Achilles' heels. But with your help, maybe I can do better this time!

Am I missing something? I did not think the original post was asking about bias binding strips.

Tartan is exactly right. As long as your ruler is perpendicular with the fold in the fabric, you will not get the V. It won't matter if your selvedges aren't lined up perfectly straight.

As others have posted, the key to cutting straight strips is having your ruler *exactly* perpendicular to the fold. To help understand this, fold some pieces of typing paper and then use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut strips. Try cutting a strip with the ruler slightly tilted from the fold, then unfold the paper. You will find the "V" shape at the fold. Then try cutting a strip *making sure* that the ruler is exactly perpendicular (90 degrees) from the fold. To do this, you make sure that the fold is exactly on a line in your ruler. It helps to use two rulers, so one is lined up with even more of the fold; your cutting ruler should be butted up against the other one, and a line on your cutting ruler should also be on the fold. Your resulting strip should have no "V" at the fold.

The further off your ruler is from the fold, the bigger the "V" will be in your strips. Varying your cuts on paper will show you how this holds true.