Trouble with 'dog legs' when cutting strips - help?
12-29-2011, 07:40 PM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Stony Brook, NY
Posts: 1,225
You have to be sure that the fabric is lined up on the straight of grain. Many times the edges are not cut evenly at the fabric store. One way to check this out is take a piece of fabric - about 1/2 yard by width of fabric. LIne up the selvedges. Hold the fabric up and grab it with your fingers. Move the selvedges from side to side and look at how the fabric shifts near the center fold. Don't focus on the edges. When the fabric lies perfectly straight without wrinkles you have it lined up correctly. Place the fabric down on the mat, being careful not to shift it. The take a ruler and trim off the edge. Be sure you have the ruler perpendicular to the fold. This should eliminate the "dog leg" or as some people call it, the dreaded "V"
12-30-2011, 05:47 AM
#35
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Somewhere in Time
Posts: 2,697
Originally Posted by postal packin' mama
three word solution: June Tailor's "Shapecut". Check it out on her website. It's got slots every half inch (some models have quarter inch increments) where you run your rotary cutter up those slots. I love it and only regret I have is that I bought the 12" instead of the 18" so I just fold the fabric smaller before positioning the Shapecut over it.
Totally agree. Except I used a 50% coupon and sprung for the 23" that has cutting slots at 2 1/2" increments so you do not have to do a second fold. It has saved me yards of fabric, not to mention aggravation! JoAnns ships it in a flat cardboard container that is great for storage.
12-30-2011, 06:28 AM
#36
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Kentucky live in WV
Posts: 8,482
Other helpful tips: I have watched Marianne share with Mary on Fons and Porter to use smaller widths/lengths of fabric to eliminate this problem - so this may be a "partial solution." Another option would be the jelly rolls that are precut. Sharp rotary blades also help. The gripper tool helps with keeping the ruler tight. The small sandpaper discs on the backs of ruler help keeping the ruler from sliding.
Last edited by ccthomas; 12-30-2011 at 06:31 AM.
12-30-2011, 09:55 AM
#39
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 15,639
I press the piece so there is no fold down the middle. Then I hold selvage to selvage and adjust it side to side until the piece hangs without wonk. That is the point where I lay it on the cutting mat and smooth it down. I fold the bottom half on the top half aligning with the selvage and trim off the side. I have never had dog legs that way.
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02-05-2011 09:42 AM
