Sewing 101, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Sewing Back-to-School: Tools for Cutting Fabric and a Charm Squares Tutorial

This post is part of the Sewing Back-to-School series, 30 days of helpful sewing articles by guest bloggers. Feel free to check out the original Sewing Back-to-School post for schedule and previous posts!

Today’s guest poster, Lindsay, is all over the web. She also has another blog called Craft Buds with her friend, Mary. My favorite part of Craft Buds are the Weekly Giveaway Roundup and the Fresh Picks posts, which are so inspiring! Lindsay also has a pattern coming out in the new One-Yard Wonders book coming out this fall!

Hello! I’m Lindsay from Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds, and I’m going to be sharing with you what I have learned about tools for cutting fabric.

My absolute favorite tool for cutting fabric is not scissors, but my rotary cutter. Rotary cutters look a lot like pizza cutters, and they come in several sizes. The smallest is 18mm or 28mm, the most common is 45mm, and the largest is typically 60mm. On the packaging, the 60mm rotary cutters say they are for thicker fabrics or cutting up to six layers of cotton fabric at a time. The smaller blades are useful for cutting around curves.

If you can only buy one size of rotary cutter, I’d say a 60mm is the way to go, but many people use the 45mm size. So did I, for a long time, and they work perfectly fine! You’ll also notice that the styles of handle are often different, which is another preference. Whichever you choose, you’ll want to buy some replacement blades as well, which usually come in a pack of five. It’s best to change out the blade when you notice that your blade is becoming dull and isn’t making very sharp cuts. Generations Quilt Patterns has some great tips for when to replace a rotary cutter.

Brands
There are a few brands of fabric cutters that are popular for sewists and quilters, like Olfa, Fiskars, Dritz and Clover. I’ve used both Olfa and Fiskars, and I’d have to say that I find them to be about the same in quality. Tip: The Olfa and Fiskars blades are interchangeable, so you can buy one or the other for your cutter, whichever is on sale!

Other Cutting Supplies
To use a rotary cutter, you’ll also need a self-healing cutting mat and a clear plastic ruler or cutting template. When you choose your mat and ruler, I recommend the largest size you can afford. This will save you lots of time when cutting a yard of fabric or more, because you won’t have to adjust the fabric as much on the mat. Again, this is a matter of preference on my part.

The clear ruler should have sightlines, or markings to help you line up your fabric. I use an OmniGrip ruler with a Lip Edge, which is great because it hooks onto the edge of the cutting mat to keep the ruler from slipping while you cut.

The mat will also have markings you can use to line up your fabric. Smaller mats and rulers are helpful for traveling with you to sewing meetings, but I don’t find it necessary to have a smaller size. The mat I use regularly is 24 inches long, which is a great size for cutting a yard of fabric into charm squares, which I’ll show you next!

Cutting Charm Squares Tutorial

One yard of cotton fabric (the normal 45″ width) will produce 56 charm squares (5″x5″).

To get started, take your yard of fabric and make sure the selvage (the white strip with words) is straight and ready to be trimmed. I am right-handed, so I made sure the selvage was on the right. Because I am cutting a yard of Spoonflower fabric, it’s a little different because there is white all around the border. I chose to fold the top of my fabric down, and here you can see how I lined up the selvage edges, to make the cutting process quicker.

Next, I lined up my ruler on the inside of the selvage. Using my rotary cutter in my right hand, I held down the ruler firmly with my left hand. Make sure your body is in a good position to hold the ruler so it doesn’t slip.

Once your selvage is gone, you’ll want to flip your cutting mat so the fresh edge you just cut is on the opposite side (left for right-handers). Line up your ruler on top of your fabric and measure out a strip that is 5 inches wide. I have a 5-inch ruler, but many rulers are 6 inches wide. Cut along the side of the ruler for the entire length of the fabric. Continue cutting 5 inch strips in this same way until you can cut no more. (Notice that my fabric is still folded, so each strip will have a top and a bottom piece.)

Take two strips, and line them up on your mat as pictured. Use your ruler to measure out 5 inches again, this time the other way so you will make 5-inch squares. With each cut, you will make 4 squares (2 top, 2 bottom). Repeat this process to cut a total of 56 charm squares.

 Scissors

Although I love my rotary cutter, sometimes I do actually use scissors to cut fabric. When you buy scissors, make sure they are heavy-duty and are meant for cutting fabric. Nothing will ruin your fabric faster than a dull, awful pair of scissors from the dollar store. Investing in a pair of quality scissors will make your sewing much more enjoyable!

A smaller pair of scissors, called point scissors or micro scissors, is also helpful for detailed cutting. Another tool you may find handy is pinking shears! Pinking shears have a saw-tooth or zig-zag edge for cutting fabric. You may wish to cut fabric charms with a pinked edge, for instance, to prevent fraying. Pinking the edge of fleece fabric along joined seams will make the seam less bulky. Or, you might use this edge on fabric scraps for a ticker-tape quilt.

To “pink” the edges of the charms we cut earlier, look for a pinking rotary cutter blade and use it with your rotary cutter to pink the edges the first time around.

To care for your scissors, make sure you only use them to cut fabric. Cutting paper with them will dull the blades. Also, try not to open and close the scissors unless you have fabric in them, because this will also wear down your blades. When your scissors aren’t cutting very well any more, you can often take them to a craft store for sharpening. Ask if your local craft store if they have a special knife or scissors sharpening day.

Well, thanks for hanging in there with me and learning a little bit about rotary cutters, mats and scissors for cutting fabric! Feel free to stop by and see me at Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds and say “hi.”

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7 thoughts on “Sewing Back-to-School: Tools for Cutting Fabric and a Charm Squares Tutorial

  1. Привет из России.
    Очень хорошая информация.
    Спасибо.

  2. Becky says:

    good tips! I didn’t know Olfa and Fiskars blades are interchangeable! That’s fantastic because my store is always sold out of the Olfa that I use.

  3. Me too…I didn’t know that Olfa & Fiskars blades were interchangeable. Cha-ching! Good to know! 🙂

  4. Thanks for having me Sara! And for all your niceness!

  5. Jessica says:

    Even I’m learning something! I didnt know about the interchangeable blades! Great tip 🙂

  6. Katie says:

    thanks for the tips Lindsay! I love a good rotary cutter.

  7. jbsews says:

    Very helpful! Thanks so much!

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