Panel Magic II - 1 - Fabric Preparation and Cutting
Posted by Wanda Milankov on
Sometimes panels get skewed when rolled onto a bolt. Before cutting, we need to straighten the grain of the fabric as best as possible.
As you can see, when this panel is folded selvage to selvage, it doesn't fall evenly. Yup, it's skewed!
Grab the diagonally opposite corners of the panel and give them a gentle tug and shake. Repeat this with the other two corners. You may have to do this a few times. In most cases this fixes the problem.
Now let's cut our six panel pieces to 10½" squares. Measure both ways across the middle and see if there is a design line that can be followed. I see on Holiday Wishes, I have the outside of the red border design so I am going to cut there. For those of you using the Sheltering Snowman panel, 10½" falls at the outside of the red frame. And the Rustic Charm panel 10½" squares fall at ⅛” beyond the wood grain frame.
After cutting I still found the squares slightly skewed. Another tug and shake is needed. But not to worry if we are slightly off...all will be rectified later!
Time to do some cutting. Let’s start with fabric D.
Line up the selvages together and hold the fabric as wide as you possibly can. Does it fall smoothly? No skewing? Great, give it a good press. But if your fabric falls unevenly, then simply keep holding it up with selvages together and shift one selvage sideways until your fabric falls smoothly. Press the new center fold.
On your pressing surface, grasp the folded edge of the fabric and bring it up to the selvage strip. The selvage strip should be visible. Press. Now the fabric is ready for cutting.
The raw edge of the fabric is most likely not even, so your first cut should be along the edge to even it out. By the way, we love using the Shape Cut Plus® at the shop. The rotary blade fits into the slots and easily slides up for accurate cuts.
If your panel pieces are not exactly to size, then cut the 1½” pieces at 1¾”. Do 7 width of fabric cuts then sub cut into 12 @ 1½” x 10½” and 12 @ 1½” x 12½”.
