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Tips to Cut Fabric Perfectly for Sewing
Ways of your fabric – Grainlines
A fabric is made of warp threads and weft threads woven in a pattern. Warp threads are found along the length and the weft threads along the width.
All fabrics have grain lines that denote the length and width of the fabric. What we call the width of fabric has the unfinished edge of a fabric. This edge frays and this is the edge which we cut.
The length of the fabric is the finished edge of the fabric. This edge on either side of the fabric is also called the selvedges or selvages. Selvages usually have small perforated holes along the length. For printed fabric selvages are mostly plain.
When sewing we usually cut fabric lengthwise, i.e along the warp threads. These threads are stronger. It is not stretchable in woven fabric. We keep/draw the dress pattern lengthwise so that the length of the dress falls that way.
But sometimes we cut fabric by the weft threads ie width wise also. This is usually done to save fabric or sometimes because the pattern calls for it. Fabric has ‘some’ stretch along these threads so the weft thread is preferred across the body ie Body round measures are taken along this grain.
When a pattern calls for lengthwise cut it shows Straight grain; Width wise is denoted as Off grain and Bias grain as Diagonal grain.
The diagonal grain of the fabric produces the maximum stretch of the fabric. This is used to cut for fitted garments. The 45 angle cut is called the true bias.
The best use of diagonal cut of fabric is to make bias tapes which are used for biding, facing and piping. It is especially useful in curved areas like necklines, armholes and circular hems
The amount of stretch of the diagonal cut varies with the type of fabric. You will not get the same stretch for a knit and a heavy cotton cloth.
Folding the fabric for cutting
Generally, the fabric is folded lengthwise matching the selvages.
Sometimes you find that the pattern pieces are too wide to fit on the fabric which is folded lengthwise. That is when you fold the fabric Crosswise when the fabric is folded so that the cut ends the match.
Double fold
Here the selvages are brought to the middle. This is used when you have to cut many layers of pattern pieces. Also used when you want to avoid the fold line which is present in the middle of fabric bolts which are mostly permanent. This fold line is especially evident in knit fabrics so a double fold is preferable when cutting knit fabric.
How to make your fabric cut edge straight
Sometimes after repeated cuts from the fabric store, your fabric may come out with the edges, not at all straight. Do not pull out your hair yet. You can make it straight with some simple steps.
1. We have to get the crosswise grain of the fabric at 90 degrees to the lengthwise grain.
2. Most typical way to get the straight edge is to tear it from one side. First make a small snip with the scissors and then tear straight. but this method works only with naturally woven fabric like cotton and I do not like the ragged edges that result when you tear the cloth.
3. The greatest ever is if you have a cutting mat with grid lines. You just have to align the selvages with it and cut off the extra.
4. Not every one has a cutting mat. Then you can still do this trick with a ruler. Fold the fabric lengthwise selvage to selvage. Then Keep a wide ruler along the cut edge, with a side flush with the selvage. Cut off the fabric above the ruler.
5. Another easy way is to fold up the selvages diagonally so that the straight edge of the selvage will form the top straight edge. Now you have a straight edge guide to mark your cut edge.
How to fold the fabric for cutting on the straight grain
Identify the center line of the fabric lengthwise.
Fold the fabric along the center line, aligning the selvages together.
Fold again widthwise by half. Now you have four layers of selvages together on one edge .
Cutting tips for different fabric types
Cutting plain fabric
This fabric can confuse you – both the face and the back of the fabric can look almost the same. You will have to mark the face of the fabric with chalk before cutting this. You can choose the side which is smoother without any lines of the weave as the face (front).
Leathercult (2020), retrieved from <https://www.leathercult.com/blog/what-is-faux-leather/>
How to cut leather or faux leather
If you are cutting leather or faux leather, you can save a lot of frustrations by using a rotary cutter and mat. That is not to say you cannot use scissors. But rotary cutter cuts best.
Never ever pin the pattern to the faux leather. Pinholes look horrible and it is better to use pattern weights. You can use paper clips or binder clips also clipping the pattern to the edges. I have even used tic tac hair clips
How to cut Printed fabric
One of the joys of sewing your own clothes for me is matching prints on the seam lines. You rarely see this in store brought clothes. Just imagine a printed pencil skirt with unmatched prints along the center seam line on the back. It will look so odd.
If you are cutting stripe, plaid and other fabric with prints and designs do not follow the lengthwise grain. Instead, you can follow the print. Cut the pattern pieces out of a single layer of fabric. Then match the design of the second piece with the first.
Striped fabric – cutting tips
One important thing to note when cutting stripes is to ensure that the two sides left and right gets the same amount of stripes. Otherwise, it could look unbalanced. The center front and center back ought to be centered either between or on the stripe.
Lengthwise stripes elongate a body, so if you want a slim look to choose this direction for cutting the fabric – you would also consider lengthwise stripes when cutting sleeves.
If you cut striped fabric on the diagonal and join it, you get interesting results.
Do not cut like this.
Match at the seam lines and not at the cutting lines.
Decide on which part will come as the center of your pattern. Make sure that the center is kept along the same stripe of the check throughout as you cut.
Printed/patterned cloth
With printed clothes you have a challenge in getting prints similar for two sides – like getting the same prints on both sleeves may prove to be difficult if you have only so much fabric. In such cases, it becomes imperative that you buy more fabric than is required if you require this kind of pattern matching.
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Challenging types of fabrics for cutting
sewsport (2020), retrieved from <https://sewport.com/fabrics-directory/chiffon-fabric>
How to cut slippery fabrics like chiffon
This is a tricky and frustrating space – cutting slippery fabrics. You can use thin paper, tissue paper underneath to cut these fabrics without disaster. Also, use serrated scissors.
If you have an absolutely unmanageable fabric in your hands you can skip cutting before sewing altogether. I know this is hearsay but you need your shortcuts. Mark the pattern on the fabric. Sew the seams. Cut it out after sewing with enough seam allowances.
How to cut delicate fabrics
For tissue-like fabric, you can keep a thin paper/ tissue paper along with the fabric and cut it together.
eco sewing and crafting (2018), retrieved from <https://www.cucicucicoo.com/2018/08/how-to-make-a-circle-skirt-with-directional-fabric/>
Directional prints
A very important thing to consider when cutting printed fabrics is the direction of the prints. You do not want an upside-down design on your sewn garment (imagine an upside-down house print). Keep all the pattern pieces in the same direction before cutting.
If you have a one-way print fabric, care needs to be taken that all pattern pieces are cut in the same direction. The fabric has to be kept in one direction to get the print in the way you want.
Sometimes you may also want a particular print on a special place of the garment. This is should also be taken into consideration when buying the fabric (may need more yardage) and placement of patterns
You should be aware that if you want to match prints along the seam line you will need more cloth than the pattern calls for. This is because once we have cut one side of the pattern, you will have to search for the matching portion in the rest of the cloth for the same print. When looking out for the matching print, take into consideration seam allowance along the seam also.
Keep the part you have already cut on the matching printed portion. Mark around and cut it out. If you use invisible zippers along the seam you will not even notice that the fabric panel belongs to two pieces.
Napped fabrics/Pile fabrics
If you have a fabric with a pile like a velour, plush, fake fur, comb it down and use the same direction when cutting for all pattern pieces. It is also important that you know if the fabric you have is with a nap. This is a very crucial consideration because it can affect the way the finished garment looks.
If you get the nap wrong when cutting the fabric it can go very wrong – the color of the fabric itself can look different. Imagine one sleeve looking very different from the other sleeve. It may not be obvious at first glance or a casual glance but in different lighting, the fabric pieces cut with a different nap can look completely different and odd.
You can run a hand over the fabric to know – smoothen the nap down.
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