I often work with strips that are less than 1 inch many are 3/4 inch. Heavy starch is my best way of dealing with cutting and sewing these skinny strips and maintaining accruacy. I buy the concentrate and use it full strenght prior to cutting when working with the really small diminesions. Do use the sand paper dots as mentioned in a earlier post to keep the ruler from sliding/slipping.
Just one note : when heavily starching fabrics let the starch completly saturate into the fabric... and if at all possible for the best results let the starch dry prior to ironing. I starch and the press and cut the next day. |
Originally Posted by Cattyqwltr
I have started using that Best Press - it's unwrinkles fabric and gives it a little stiffness without the messiness of starch
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Originally Posted by QM
Starch or sizing would probably help, although most of the time I am too lazy to do that.
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I use starch, but it makes my iron so dirty quick. Am I doing something wrong?
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Measure from the other side of the fabric strip, leaving ¼" sticking out free. Line up the fabric on the 1⅛" line on your ruler and draw your seam line along the edge. The weight of your hand will keep everything from slipping.
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I always starch my fabric before I cut it, it sure helps me out alot.
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Sta-Flo and I are good friends. I think I'd try the Best Press if it weren't so pricey. IMHO, starching fabric has improved my quiltmaking 100%!
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If your trouble is fabric shifting when you are trying to mark it then try another surface to work on--something not slick. Another idea is when cutting the strips, be sure not to cut with the 'stretchy' way of the fabric. Test the goods by pulling each way.
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Get the Easy Angler 2 to put on your machine and you have perfect 1/4 inch seams and won't have to mark them on your fabric any more.
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Starching before cutting will definately help, also laying the fabric on sand paper will help to hold it.
Originally Posted by Flying_V_Goddess
Today I was marking seam allowances on strips for strip sets. I mark the seam allowances because I don't have a quilter foot for my machine and never got accurate seams when I marked 1/4" on my machine. I seemed to have a bit of trouble today marking them. Sorry if I don't make sense on this... I'd lay the strip down on the table, lay the ruler down, and kept having trouble getting the edge of the strip to line with the 1/4" mark on my ruler. Kept having to shift the fabric underneath the ruler to line up that edge to the mark on the ruler. Guess not a huge deal, but probably could have gotten them done quicker if I didn't need to line the edge up. Checked the width my strips and went to see if they were wonky---nothing wrong there. They are thinner strips (1 3/8" wide) and I wonder if because they're so thin they're shifting around more than...say a thicker 2 1/2" strip.
Still have more thin strips to cut out. Would using starch before cutting help with these thinner strips lay straight when I need to mark them and keep them from shifting and stretching? |
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