Cutting Fabric

You Can Avoid the "Bends" when Cutting Your Fabric Cross-grain

Rotary cutters have greatly improved the speed at which we can complete our quilt tops. However, in our haste we sometimes end up with long fabric strips that have a bend or unusual sharp point at the midpoint. To avoid this mishap, you must take the time to fold your fabric correctly before wielding your rotary cutter.

Press your fabric to remove the influence of the bolt fold, and then fold it so that the selvages are together. Then pick up the selvages in both hands and slide the selvages from side to side along each other until the fabric's fold is flat. Lay the fabric back down on your work surface and fold the fabric in half again, bringing the fold to the selvage edges so that they line up.

Now you have one edge that is a fold and two selvage edges. Those must all align with each other. When you are confident that the edges are straight, align your rotary cutting ruler with the fold of the fabric, and slice away!