dmarina

How do you cut LONG (44"/45") strips straight?

Jeanne S

Here is what I do: I cut my fabric into one yard lengths--longer is harder to work with. I use spray starch and iron it smooth. Then fold it in half with selveges together, and hold it out in front of me with the fold hanging down toward the floor. I slide the two selveges edges back and forth, looking at the fold until the fabric hangs down smooth without a ripple at the fold. Then lay the fabric flat on my cutting board, with the selveges away from me and the fold toward me. I pick up the fold and fold it up to line up even with the selvege edges, so I will be cutting through 4 layers of fabric. Use the lines on the cutting mat to trim the left edge off, otherwise known as 'squaring up'. Then I use my 24" ruler, placing it on the left side of the fabric, the newly trimmed side, and slide the ruler over the fabric until 2 1/2" of the fabric is underneath the clear ruler, lining up both vertical and horizontal fabric edges to lines on the ruler. Use a rotary cutter to cut the fabric on the right side of the ruler.
If I don't take the time to iron the fabric and get the fold straight, I get bows in my strips---this is a common problem. A wrinkle in the fabric will also give you a weird jagged edge. Also make sure your cutting board is on a hard flat surface, if it bends when you are cutting, you will get bows too.

joe'smom

In the process that Jeanne S describes, when you get to the point of cutting your 2 1/2" strip, when you line up the 2 1/2" line on the ruler with the edge of your fabric (make sure you include the line in your measurement), if the bottom fold of the fabric doesn't line up with a horizontal line on the ruler, you know your fabric isn't folded properly, and you will get a bend. Unfold and try again. When you have a side edge of fabric that lines up with a line on the ruler and a bottom fold of fabric that lines up with a line on your ruler, you know your fabric is straight, and your strips should come out straight. I often have to refold after I've cut several strips.

wesing

I asked about this very thing and got a great piece of advice from Prism99. Check out her answer on this thread:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...r-t264611.html

cathyvv

Good advice. One thing that really helped me cut straighter was pressing down the crease after folding the fabric for cutting the strips. Occasionally, I still get an elbow, but it happens far less now.

Also, I align the ruler so that only 2.5" wide strip I want to cut is covered by the ruler. The other 3.5" of the ruler are on the cutting board. It's much easier for me to see whether the fabric is straight when I do that.

If I try to cut more than 2 layers of fabric, the fabric seems to skew on the additional layers, so I don't do that. Other people are very successful at cutting more than 2 layers of fabric at once, so I know the problem is me!

And - always use a sharp blade to rotary cut. That makes a world of difference.

ManiacQuilter2

The important thing is to make sure the fold of the fabric is straight. I too use a square ruler to extend along the fold of the fabric to make sure I am cutting 90 degrees from the fold. Just try various ways and find what works best for you.

Onebyone

I fold it and use my 8 1/2 x 24 inch ruler. The 8 1/2" width is enough to be sure the fold of the fabric straight. Most times I use my Go though.

Jingle

I do the above and after 2 or 3 cuts, I check to see if fabric is still square.

bearisgray

I cut parallel to the selvage when practical and/or feasible - I do cut off the unmarked selvage first.

PenniF

After making sure the folds are parallel, i use the June Taylor large Shape Cutter "ruler" (the one with the slits cut in it that you use to channel the rotary cutter). I like it because i can clearly see that the folds are parallel by the "ruler" markings - and i can cut multiple strips without moving it. Just used it this morning to cut 80 10x10 squares out of yardage.