Don't waste your time carefully cutting out each individual piece of a pattern from large paper sheets, only to cut around all the pieces again after they are on the fabric. Simply rough cut around the pattern pieces - no need to be neat. Secure the pattern on the fabric, ensuring that each pattern piece has the grainline parallel to the fabric selvedge. Then, cut both the pattern and the fabric at the same time. Hungry Zombie says, "Sew smart. Use your braaaaains..."
14 comments:
Heehee, I've been doing that for years. But I chalked it up to laziness. ;)
I do this too especially nice when cutting silk. Little more stability.
All right, now I can justify doing what I thought was laziness! Thanks!
I just took my first class learning to work with bias cut patterns and the trick was to sandwich the fabric between the pattern and tracing paper. Nice to see that the same technique would work for just regular 'ol fabrics, too. :)
I guess I've always been lazy -- that's pretty much the way I always do it. I have a vague recollection of once being told that cutting *through* the line on the pattern to cut the material would be more accurate than cutting *around* an already cut-out piece, as well. (But no doubt I adopted the idea so readily because it's less work...)
My one question is, would this hurt my scissors? (My guess is no, but as a beginning sewist, I keep hearing and reading that fabric scissors should never, ever touch paper.) Help!
If i can do this, would LOVE to, as it indeed would save so much time.
My sentiments exactly. When I was in 8th grade sewing class we'd have to spend an entire class period trimming those pattern pieces. Didn't take me long to ditch that process. But how about this: I once saw a girl lay the pattern out without cutting the pieces on the sheet apart at all??? - how about that for saving time? I just stood there and watched dumbfounded!
This makes perfect sense. I thought I was being lazy too. I'd never photograph pattern layouts because they're so messy and a bad example, but yeah, why bother.
But when we exercise our brains, does that make them juicy or tough and chewy, or do zombies not care about that?
Damn, Deb beat me to it!
(Inquiring brains want to know...)
As do enquiring zombies...
I don't do this because I find it does ruin my scissors very quickly. And I quickly blunted a blade for a rotary cutter by using it to cut pattern paper.
Helen
I'm really anal and have been unable to do this until recently. I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks.
I have done this for years and it has never dulled my scissors. Tissue paper is not the same as regular paper as far as dulling scissors. On the other hand, it does not work well for rotary cutting. The paper tends to pull with the blade.
I took home ec, sewing I, sewing II, and tailoring in high school. (at an all-girls Catholic h.s.)
I was taught, by nuns, to cut through the pattern with our good scissors. It never dulled them and I have been doing this since 1967 and have not had a problem.
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