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Fabric Preparation and Cutting

There’s nothing like grabbing a few hours and making a start on a new sewing project. But before you rush in with your scissors it’s worth taking a little time and care to prepare and cut your fabrics in a methodical way. The following tips and hints will help you speed up the cutting process and end up with a more professional-looking bag.

Fabric preparation tips

• If you want to wash your bags you will need to pre-wash your fabric to prevent the fabric from shrinking during washing. Put your fabric in a mesh bag to help prevent the raw edges fraying in the washing machine. (I don’t pre-wash my fabrics because I don’t think it’s a good idea to wash bags. I prefer to ‘spot wash’ by dabbing the affected area with a moist cloth and a mild detergent.)

• Always iron your fabrics thoroughly before cutting. See Fig a.

Spray away …

Rather than washing bags, try using fabric protector sprays on your fabrics to help repel dirt and block stains. Always read the instructions and test first.

Fig a I know it’s boring, but ironing is a necessary activity in all sewing projects. Always iron your fabrics thoroughly before pattern cutting.

Fabric cutting tips

• Always cut on a flat surface and clear the decks before you get cutting.

• Speed things up by ironing fusible interfacing (if using) to the wrong side of fabrics before cutting out, see Fig b. See also Interfacing and Interlining.

• Always use sharp scissors or a sharp rotary cutter for cutting out your fabrics. This will ensure that you get clean and accurate cuts every time. If you are using a rotary cutter ensure that you cut on a rotary cutting mat. See Fig c.

• Follow the grain lines on your patterns to ensure that fabric designs don’t appear wonky.

• Try laying the fabrics and interlining pieces carefully on top of each other and then laying the pattern pieces on the top before pinning all layers and cutting. See Fig d. However, if your stacked up layers are too tall you will end up with very scruffy edges and your scissors won’t be happy at having to cut through all of those layers. If this is the case, try layering your lining and exterior fabrics together and cutting, and then layer your interlinings together and cutting.

• If using fabrics with a directional pattern and you are layering your fabrics before cutting (as suggested above) be sure to check that your fabrics are the right way up. You don’t want to end up with fabric pattern pieces with designs that are upside down.

Fig b Wherever possible iron fusible interfacing (if using) onto the WS of fabrics before pattern cutting. This saves the bother of having to match up and iron an interfacing pattern piece to the fabric pattern piece.

Fig c A rotary cutter makes cutting straight edges so much faster and neater. If you have a steady hand, a rotary cutter is great for curved edges too. Always use a rotary cutting mat – they not only protect your table, they also help keep the blade sharper for longer.

Fig d Another pattern cutting time-saving trick is to stack and pin the fabric and interfacing pieces on top of each other before cutting.