Use medium sized or small rotary cutters like the 18 or … A rotary cutter allows me to simply lay out my pattern, put down some pattern weights, then cut cut cut! All rotary cutters have a blade…depending on the brand they have different sizes. Spread your fingers out to hold the ruler securely, but take care to keep fingers out of the cutter's path. A rotary cutter allows me to simply lay out my pattern, put down some pattern weights, then cut cut cut! A commercial tool such as the RuleSteady can help keep fabrics from shifting and protect your hand. Rotary cutters cut a lot faster than scissors! Continue until you have the number of bias strips required for your quilting project. Unprotected surfaces will be permanently scarred, and you’ll dull the rotary cutter blade. QUILTING. This is the best rotary cutter on the market! Use a ruler to produce the straightest lines possible. If the reverse side of my cutting mat weren’t so dirty, I would use that because it has no lines to distract me. Check it lines up along the entire length of the ruler. Cutting is my least favorite step in sewing, so anything that makes it easier is a plus. To cut with a rotary cutter, keep the fabric layers and pattern if you are using that on the mat together with pattern weights. Since I often worked with knits, transferring this technique into cutting the ribbing for neck and waist bands was a natural jump. Always roll the rotary cutter away from your body and follow any safety guidelines that came with your cutter. When cutting fabric using a rotary cutter, lay the fabric on a cutting pad to avoid damaging the surface. Some people still use scissors to cut fabric and it’s okay. If you are cutting folded over pattern pieces with fabric scissors, you may find that the two layers of fabric shift around over each other. Crisp fabrics are easier to rotary cut. It’s another Fiskars, a stronger and … Place the fabric on the cutting mat, fold near the bottom edge, side to be squared on the left. Fiskars Craft 60mm Rotary Cutter – Ideal for Thicker Materials. Align the 45-degree mark on a long rotary ruler with the fold in the fabric's bottom. Lay the Omnigrid ruler horizontally on top of the fabric. A rotary cutter is basically a circular blade that “rotates” as it cuts! Olfa 45mm Deluxe Ergonomic Rotary Cutter. Use even pressure the entire way through each cut; this ensures that all materials will receive an even cut. To be honest, it is a matter of preference. Always check the state of your tools: is the blade of the rotary cutter sharp? Rotary cutting long strips of fabric is the starting point for most rotary cutting tasks used in today's quilt patterns, especially strip-pieced quilting projects. Individual patchwork shapes can be sub-cut from strips as needed. A rotary cutter, sometimes called a rotary fabric cutter, or fabric cutter roller is essentially a spring loaded circular razor blade that is attached to a handle (it looks a bit like a pizza cutter) that can be used to cut fabric or paper for sewing, quilting, and paper crafts. The rotary cutter will cut the fabric as it rolls. I broke my wrist earlier this year it was very hard for me to cut 2 layers of fabric because of having to use pressure on the cutter. Start with the rotary cutter positioned against the edge of the ruler, BELOW the fabric, and hold the rotary cutter at a 45 degree angle. Lay the fabric out on a smooth cutting surface. Long (stretchy) bias strips are sometimes used to make quilt binding and for applique shapes that bend easily into graceful curves, such as flower stems. After squaring up, the leading edge should be at a 90-degree angle to the fold. Not only does this produce a more straight line, it takes more accurate measurements for hems and buttons. With this cutter, because it is heavier, I do not need to push down to cut my fabric - less pain in my wrist. New quilters can save money by practicing with inexpensive muslin or bargain fabrics before cutting more expensive quilting fabrics. This is used to cut lengths of fabric (normally in conjunction with this Acrylic Ruler and Self-healing mat). Individual patchwork shapes can be sub-cut, understand some basic terms and techniques. Ashley Briggs from Olfa shows easy ways to use different rotary cutters that are available on Joann. This one was submitted via my question form and asked, “How do you cut straight?” So I’m going to share how to use a rotary cutter today, which, when combined with a ruler and a mat, can get you perfectly straight cuts. It revolutionized how people cut fabric by switching them from using scissors to rolling a circular blade over the material. Line up the crisp folded edge to the bottom of your mat. Hey y’all, today I’m answering another of your sewing questions. The bolt fold should be straight, with no pull lines. Slide the Omnigrid to the edge of the fabric until you reach your desired width. After all, the first rotary cutter was manufactured in 1979. Place your hand firmly in the vertical center of the long ruler to hold it in place and roll a rotary cutter from bottom to top along the ruler's right edge. The fabric's cut edge should now be at a 90-degree angle to the folded edge. Align the mark on the long ruler that corresponds to your desired strip width to the left edge of the fabric. Do this slowly at first, or you'll risk cutting your pattern. These qualities make them so comfortable to wear, but kind of annoying while cutting. Line up your ruler with the folded edge using the lines to make … How to cut a straight line on fabric using the right tools. She has published over 350+ articles for The Spruce Crafts. Scroll Cutting The Ryobi Speed Saw is especially useful for cutting odd or unusual shapes. It fits my hand perfect, runs around curves like nobodies business…and so- I use it every day. This tool is made specifically to be used with rotary cutters. Rotary cutters are extremely sharp and will cut you! The hand holding the ruler should be … Learn about correct hand positioning to cut through layers of fabric. Hold the ruler in place and cut along its right edge. It’s very easy to slide your hand in the path of the rotary cutter so make sure your hand stays completely on the ruler and off the path. If the piece has a bend in the middle, the fabric's left edge is no longer square. Starting on the side of the fabric closest to your body, roll the cutter along the ruler away from your body with firm pressure. Turn the strip around and cut segments from its left edge in the same way you cut the original fabric strips, aligning the strip with markings on the ruler as required for each shape. How do you use the rotary cutter? A rotary cutter is designed to cut rough plant material, from thick pasture grass to tree saplings with trunks up to 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Many people use a rotary cutter (often referred to by the copyrighted name “Bush Hog”) to cut grass and weeds, but, in too many cases, the implement is not correctly adjusted. Make sure a. Fold the fabric along its length, selvages together. This is because you have to lift your fabric up in order to cut it with fabric scissors. Rotary cutters are also ideal for smooth cuts through multiple layers of fabric, and can be quicker and more ergonomic, for some, to use. Place a long rotary ruler to the left of the first ruler on top of the leading edge of the fabric and flush against the square ruler. Friction-fit a piece of 3/4-in. The instructions for most quick-pieced quilt patterns tell you to rotary cut long strips of fabric from selvage to selvage, across the fabric's crosswise grain, and that's what we'll cover in this tutorial. The things you need to use the rotary cutter efficiently are mats (the self healing mat or a hard surface mat) and pattern weights. By using The Spruce Crafts, you accept our, How to Make Magic 8 Half Square Triangle Units, How to Sew an Easy Log Cabin Quilt Pattern, How to Make Easy Half Square Triangle Units for Quilts, Definition of a Fat Quarter of Fabric and How It Is Cut, Facts About Fabric Grain that Every Quilter Should Know, How to Choose the Best Tools for Beginning Quilters, Easy Baby Quilt Patterns for Brand New Quilters, Use This Easy Method to Make Quilt Binding Strips. When using a cutter for the first time, go slowly to keep lines fluid. After my first quilt, I fell in love with a rotary cutter. Cutting is my least favorite step in sewing, so anything that makes it easier is a plus. Some quilters square up an edge from the right side of folded fabric, aligning a rule on the ruler with the bottom edge and trimming off a small excess on the right. Your email address will not be published. Step 1 – Take your fabric piece and lay it on your cutting mat, so the raw edge is on the right side. Before you rotary cut the long strips required for a quilt pattern, it's important to square up one end of the fabric. Because its blade operates at such high speed and is so thin, it allows detailed scroll cuts in a wide range of materials. Rotary cut along the right side of the ruler again.Â. Disclosures, Subscribe below to receive the latest quilty news and offers from Cotton + Joy. If you are working on a small rotary cutting mat, you may need to fold the fabric lengthwise again, making it four layers deep. Video Demo of a … The end of your fabric is now squared up. Back in 1979, the first rotary cutter was introduced by OLFA, and it revolutionized sewing, making fabric... 2. Always rotary cut fabric using a rotary mat to protect your work surface. Then poke holes in the plastic foam with an awl to hold shafted bits, and slice crevices with a utility knife to hold cutoff discs. You do not want the fabric layers to shift. How to Use a Rotary Cutter on Fleece After you choose the right size of blade, and you can go up to 60 mm if the fleece is really thick, you are … To make sure the leading edge of the fabric is at a 90-degree angle to the bottom of the strip, open one of your rotary-cut strips to its full width and look at the area near the fold. Read through all the instructions to get an overview of the process. However, just as scissors have evolved, so too has the rotary cutter. Step 2 – The first cut will be to the right edge to square up the fabric. 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