So what's the trick involved here. I need to cut my curtain fabric lengthwise a long way. For example, I want to split 3.5 yards of fabric in half the long way. How do I do that with a nice straight cut? Since it's not a piece of 4x8 plywood, I can't exactly put it in the table saw and use a guide, right? So how is it done?
Measure it lots of places all the way up with a big ruler then join the dots down the middle! Also, you'll need a good pair of fabric scissors otherwise you'll wreck the fabric.
Charlie.
I would iron the fabric in half lengthwise and then cut along the crease that forms.
Since this is the taffeta stuff I'd fold, iron and cut. Fold the long sides together to get the center, put a few pins in it to hold it and then lightly press down the center crease with an iron.....check the temp of that iron on your sample piece to make sure you don't melt the stuff or cause it to have a permanent iron heat pucker in it. I am a fearless soul when it comes to what you're doing.....I'd snip and rip....but that's from a woman who can just about tell by the feel of a fabric if it's going to tear straight and if it doesn't goes to Plan B without batting an eye.
Since what you are doing isn't exactly precision engineering you could probably use a few layers of bath towel or a sheet folded several times, laid on the floor and use that to iron on. You can lay the fabric flat, fold it over and press right on the floor if you don't have a board handy.
Val
One thing you should do with your sample piece is cut a snip in the edge and tear it. Synthetics usually pull something awful when you try to tear them -- threads look yanked inches or even feet into the fabric -- but most fabrics tear better lengthwise than crosswise, and you just might get lucky and learn that it tears neatly.
I just tore some fabric that had been in my stash since white blouses were standard into pillowcases to get rid of it, and I found that it tore so easily lengthwise that I couldn't tear it crosswise -- the tear made a right angle turn!
I'm very glad that I never made a blouse out of that feeble stuff.
Joy Beeson
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