Sewing Patterns & Supplies

How can I cut fabric perfectly straight for sewing?

I have a very good sewing machine, scissors, etc but I can't cut fabric straight for the life of me! I measure and measure with my ruler, cut precisely and 2 pieces of fabric never match up. They look like trapezoids when I line them up to each other. They're always out of square. I am new to the sewing world. I've tried a T-Square but it's hard to use on floppy, slippy fabric, so right now I am using an 18" metal ruler. I guess I need a yard stick? This is frustrating!

All the suggestions so far are good. Silky floppy fabric is very difficult to cut, even for very experienced cutters. You are better off using a more stable less floppy fabric for learning how to sew. I can offer a few scissor tricks that I've learned along the way in addition to the tips you've received so far.

Be sure they the fabric is fully supported on a flat surface. There should be no overhang. Gravity pulls hard on overhanging fabric, and once the scissors begin cutting gravity and the fabric's weight can pull the hanging fabric all over the place and distort the cut lines.

Use a high quality extra sharp scissors. No one talks about scissors. There should be much more said about scissors than there is now. Good scissors can be the difference between smoothly cutting fabric and gnawing it and shredding it. Scissors are maybe more important than the sewing machine; they certainly can be a source of frustration. Have one pair dedicated to fabrics and don't use it for anything else. Keep the blades sharp and free of nicks and burrs. Use a fine honing stone to keep them sharp. Fiskers and gingher scissors make a special micro-serrated blade scissors for cutting slippery silkies, unfortunately they are expensive. You should have bent handle dressmakers/tailors shears. Office supply scissors aren't any good for fabric. In shears and scissors you get what you pay for. (I have over 20? pairs of scissors and shears -my two favourites were both over 200$ but you don't need to spend that much!)

Finally, refine your cutting technique. Slide the lower blade of the scissors under the fabric and cut smoothly without lifting the fabric too high off the table. Don't lift the lower blade, let it glide under the fabric on the surface. Some cutters place their hand inside the pattern piece to hold the fabric down, some on the outside of the piece. Some hold their hand directly in front of the scissors being careful not to cut their hand. For soft fabric I use the last method and take shorter strokes.

Finally, if you are making squares that are all the same size, use the pulled thread method. Take a thread from the selvage that goes across the width, and pull it out. The space will be straight and on-grain and you can use that as a guide. Some will actually snip into the selvage at the gap and tear across the fabric. This is done usually to line up the grain on the end of the fabric or when someone needs perfectly straight strips of fabric.

Cutting can be difficult to master, it's unfortunate that you are using such a cranky and difficult fabric to learn on.

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