In this guide we will be showing you how to cut a length of fabric evenly and neatly to make it suitable for usage as samples.
For this guide you will need the following:
- A fabric cutting machine
- A length of fabric
- A pair of scissors
The first thing you need to do is to cut your fabric to a manageable length (using scissors), for this guide we’d recommend 20cm-40cm. This is short enough to fit on a cutting machine without going over the edges, making it easier for someone just starting out.
You now need to lay your fabric on the cutting machine (with front-side up) and line it up with the guides on the machine so that you get straight lines.
You need to cut off the outer edge of the fabric (around 0.5cm, enough to ensure you get a straight cut). To do this, keep the fabric lined up on the cutting machine and push the fabric to the right until it’s at 0.5cm on the guide or until you’re confident you’ve got rid of all the rough edges.
Once the fabric is lined up to cut the outer edge off. pull the lever on the cutting machine in one motion, ensuring a consistent cut. Once the lever has reached the end, you may want to pull the lever back and forth lightly, to ensure the fabric is cut all the way through.
Now you need to cut the left-hand side of the sample, to do this, simply move the fabric the desired distance to the right (we recommend 15cm) and perform another cut.
Now that your fabric has been cut vertically, you need to cut it horizontally. To accomplish this you need to rotate the fabric, do this by rotating your cutting board 90 degrees. Once your board is rotated, follow steps 3 and 4 again, to get your cuts for this angle.
After completing all the previous steps you’ll have just one sample, to create more, just repeat steps 4 and 5 until you run out of fabric. Remember that you don’t need to cut the outer edge of a new sample as you’ll already have the clean cut left over.