Marsh

I seem to be having difficulty with the strip dies - sometimes they cut strips that are bowed in the center as if I had cut with a rotary cutter. Does anyone else have this problem and do any of you have an idea why this might be happening? Thanks for any help.

BellaBoo

I have never had the bow using the strip die but I do get it when using the June Taylor strip ruler and others don't. Who knows why one works for some and not others. I only cut two layers of the long strips at a time. There are videos on youtube how to position the fabric for the strips. That may help you.

luvstoquilt

I haven't had a problem..maybe you need a new mat? I would look at the video on youtube like BellaBoo suggested!

WTxRed

I had that problem one time - it was the way I had fan folded my fabric. After that, I fold and press, fold and press and it hasn't happened again. Good luck!

Misty's Mom

I also fold and press, also put the fold so that it enters the cutter first.

Candace

If you 're getting a bow, your fabric isn't folded correctly. I use a ruler to make sure my fabric is folded to avoid any problems. The best advice was to view the UTube videos on how to fold your fabric before cutting.

PaperPrincess

And the fold must be at a perfect 90 degree angle to the blade. I use a sharpie marker to draw a reference line to make fabric placement easier. I also agree with the other posters on carefully folding and pressing.

Prism99

A bow in the center (where the fold is) means that the fold is not a perfect 90 degrees from the cutting blades. The same is true with the June Taylor Shape Cut.

You can test this with a piece of paper and a rotary cutter. Fold the paper. Cut a strip in a way that you know is wrong -- with the fold not lined up perfectly perpendicular to the cuts. When you unfold the paper, you will see the bow. The more out-of-true from 90 degrees the cut is, the bigger the bow. If you cut at a perfect right angle, when you unfold the paper you will have a straight strip.

Marsh

Thank you for your replies - I've watched videos time and again - and I thought I was doing it correctly, but I haven't pressed the fold line. And now, I think I use my square up rulers to make sure it is placed accurately on the die. I've marked around the blades, but think I will also take a ruler and draw a line from one side to the other to get the fabric lined up correctly. I've done the selvage test to make sure the fabric is hanging correctly - and maybe I'm not getting that right. It is really frustrating.

quilterjody

Also, make sure to feed it through fold first.