I find if I press up and down instead across from selvage to selvage I get less stretching, less rolls/waves in the fabric when I go to start cutting. I also had the problem of stretching my fabrics when I pressed.

Ditto. I spray starch before cutting. Sometimes if I oversize the block, I will then spray starch before the final trimming.

It really does help to have the "big" ironing board. Hubby made mine after I showed him what I wanted. I just use my regular ironing board, in case I need to press clothing. Let's see if I can find the pictures. Start with a half sheet of plywood.
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How did he do this? It seems pretty simple. I just need the dimensions of the board and thickness. Thanks for sharing.

Here is how I starch: when your iron gets all gunky, it's because when you’re ironing, instead of ironing the fabric, you were ironing the starch. I starch every piece of fabric I'm going to work with, at least 2 hours ahead of the time, throw it in a plastic bag, and let it sit, then I'll take it out, either line dry or throw in the dryer for a few minutes, then iron, have never had a problem with the iron getting all gunky then, I do spray mist with water since I don't use the steam on my iron. I have starched and ironed pieces from 1/2 yard to 4 yards and never had a problem.