Cutting Fabric

Cutting fabric is really important [ then again, most things in sewing are! ]. It can seriously affect your work, and if you do it incorrectly, you will waste fabric.

How to Cut Fabric-Rules

1. Always cut a shape from the edge of the fabric. If you cut it from the centre, you will waste fabric and when you want to do other projects with the same fabric, that require lots of the same material, you will have to buy more because your other shape will not fit in the space left.
2. When you have a shape like a pony, for example, there are some parts of its shape that need to be rounded, such as a neck. What you do is you snip a few small triangles from the edge of the fabric to the stitches. However you should only do this if instructed.
3. Cut slowly. If you cut your fabric really fast you can make a mistake, so it's best to cut slowly and steadily.
4. Make sure your fabric is straight, not crumpled! This rule is very important. Your fabric MUST be straight and flat before you begin cutting. If it is crumpled, your shape will go all wrong and you would've wasted fabric.
5. Cut your fabric on a flat surface. Never cut your fabric in your lap or on an unsteady surface. Cut on a table or a tray, or anywhere else that is flat, not a bed!

Tracing Templates and Cutting Shapes

Cutting shapes and tracing templates can affect your work drastically, so you need to know how to do it properly.

What you need:

- Pencil
- Baking paper/ Tracing paper or any see through paper
- Scissors
- Pins
- Fabric

How to Trace Templates and Cut Shapes:


1. Set the paper down onto the book, or thing you are tracing from, and hold still.
2. Carefully trace the template with your pencil. Do not move the paper.
3. Remove your traced paper and cut out the template with scissors.
4. Pin to your fabric and cut carefully.