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hey guys it's Dana today I want to share
a really simple but important technique
how to cut a straight line and then how
to cut a curved line so let's do
it
I know you probably learned how to cut a
straight line in kindergarten but you'd
be amazed at how often I get comments on
my site people asking how do you cut a
straight line in fabric which is
important when you're cutting something
that needs to be really precise now the
best way to do that is probably with a
cutting mat a ruler and a rotary cutter
you can place it down on your Fabric and
use your rotary cutter to cut right down
but what if you need to cut a piece of
fabric that's even larger than your mat
or your table or you don't have these
special tools
well here's a few ideas that you can use
first one you could do the folding
method and this is not a proper
technique just something that I do say I
had to cut about 7 in of fabric I might
fold it up to where I need to cut let's
see the edge of my fabric is now lined
up about let's go back to seven in right
there and then I use my scissors to just
cut right down this line right here and
now I have an even 7 in of fabric
another idea you can use is to take your
ruler and let's say I need to cut oh I
don't know 14 in all the way down
sometimes like I'm always telling you I
just kind of eyeball it what if you feel
like your eyeball is not that great well
start
here and start cutting 14 in I can see
it right there ahead of me I cut up to
that point move my ruler down I'm making
it flush with the end here and then I
cut back up to 14 in I'm just cutting
about a few inches at a time you can
definitely eyeball that much
let's keep
going move it
up now one more thing that I like to do
is if I have to cut a really really
large piece of fabric say I'm making a
crib sheet or I don't know I have to cut
a couple different yards of fabric I
love using my floor as my rulers you can
use the grout lines of your tile or if
you have a wood floor it's great to
place some fabric down and measure and
then cut right along one of those lines
now let me show you how to cut a curved
line
let's say you're making something like a
circle skirt which I've already cut out
here and you want to give it a little
bit of a hem it's a little too long so
you want to cut oh about 1 in off all
the way around the Bottom now that
sounds a little difficult to get it
perfectly all the way around so here's a
little tip that you can use I take my
ruler and I start at one side here and
again I'm just working in little
sections at a time I've measured 1 inch
and I'm going to start
cutting then I'm going to move it down a
little bit cut to that point
and then once I've cut I don't know a
few inches I can put my ruler aside and
then I just take the part that I've
already cut and I fold that up and then
I continue cutting that and using that
sort of as my template to go all the way
around and then once you've done that
you have even more it's kind of
therapeutic and fun to do I don't know
why but I use this often when I'm making
one of my patterns called the first day
dress it has kind of a circle skirt on
the
bottom and I'm not really sure when I
cut out the pieces originally not sure
what length I want to make it so I just
leave it a little bit long and then I
can always trim it later and this makes
it really easy to do okay let's cut off
this last section
here and there you go 1 in cut off all
the way around now you've got some great
tips and ideas to help you with more
precise cutting in all your sewing
projects for more ideas and tutorials
visit my website made everyday.com I'll
see you next time bye
[Music]
me