How to cut perfect stripes, rectangles and squares from fabric (fabric scraps or yardage). Patchwork Basics for Beginners

In patchwork, you constantly need strips, rectangles, and squares of cotton fabric. I'll show you how to cut them easily and accurately.

It's best to read all the instructions before you pick up your scissors or rotary cutter.

If you already know how to cut the stripes out of your fabric, then check out my free tutorial here on my blog, and the tutorial for the cute heart in the Log Cabin pattern will be posted in the next few days. I ask for a little patience. You can use the Log Cabin heart as a pincushion or as a lavender bag for Christmas.

Cutting strips from your fabric

I will be using the Log Cabin Heart pattern for the following instructions. It's much easier for you to follow along with an actual pattern. Plus, you'll already have the fabrics cut for the cute Log Cabin Heart and can make a beautiful lavender pillow or pincushion in just a few days.

In patchwork, you can often use both scraps and yardage. Everyone defines "scraps" differently. I have talked to women who consider a 25 x 25 cm piece of fabric to be remnants. So just see what size your scraps are. Maybe they will work for your next patchwork project?

I'll explain how to cut the strips, rectangles and squares from the yard. I only use a rotary cutter.

I highly recommend the rotary cutter. It simplifies the whole cutting process of patchwork, it is fast and it saves time. You will need a rotary cutter, a cutting mat and a patchwork ruler. The ruler comes in different sizes. I find the 15cm x 60cm to be the most practical for cutting yard goods.

How to cut stripes from your fabric yardage

Maybe you don't have fabric scraps in the right size? Or would you rather use a beautiful fabric yardage you already have?

The technique of cutting a strip first and then cutting the pieces you need is especially useful when you need a lot of pieces of fabric of the same height. For example, if you need a lot of rectangles and squares that are 2.5 cm high.

Before you cut the strips from the fabric, iron the fabric.

I always wash my fabric before quilting, but there are many quilters who do not. There are arguments for and against it and you can read hot discussions about it on the internet 😉 What it's all about in detail, I can explain to you in another blog article sometime. Fortunately, we can all work with patchwork the way we want and the way we find it right.

Now it's time to cut the fabric yardage.

To do this, take the ironed fabric and fold it once across the width. This means that the fold where you folded the fabric across is on the left side. This fold is called the lengthwise fold.

On the right side, the two selvedges are on top of each other.

The selvedges are the edges that often bear the name of the manufacturer and the name of the fabric series. In the case of patterned fabrics, the colors used may also be indicated. On plain fabrics, you will often only see the woven end of the fabric on the selvedge.

If you no longer have the full width of your fabric, the selvedges have already been cut off and you only have one or two cut edges.

The fabric is now doubled, meaning the two layers are on top of each other.

Since the patchwork fabric is 1.10 meters wide, folded to about 55 cm, you can work beautifully with the patchwork ruler, which is 60 cm long.

If you are working with German cotton fabrics, which are often about 1.40 meters wide, you will need two rulers that you can align with the lines on the cutting mat.

At the bottom you will see the often unfortunately crooked side. This is where the fabric was cut.

Often there are a few millimeters or even centimeters missing between the top and bottom layers.

Straighten this bottom side.

Cutting a clean edge

Straightening the edge means looking at where the top and bottom meet. Then you'll know how much fabric to cut.

To do this, place the patchwork ruler against the fold, which is the folded edge, so that the ruler is at right angles to the fold.

This is important because if you don't, you will have a small square "hill" in your strip of fabric at the fold.

Now cut off the excess fabric on the underside. Now you have two nice layers of fabric on the bottom, right on top of each other.

This is the base from which we will now cut the strip of fabric.

Maybe you just had a problem with the ruler slipping instead of staying straight on the fabric when cutting with the rotary cutter? If so, you are cutting a curve in your fabric instead of a straight line. To make sure that doesn't happen, I have a wonderful trick for you: The Wandering Hand.

The moving hand

The trick is to use the rotary cutter to cut only to where your hand is on the ruler. If you want to cut further, first move your hand on the ruler and then the rotary cutter. Here are my step-by-step instructions for the moving hand:

Place the fabric and one or both of the patchwork rulers on the cutting mat as I just described in "Cutting a clean edge".

Place your rotary cutter at one end of the fabric. Next to the rotary cutter, rest your hand on the ruler, with your thumb about level with the rotary cutter and the rest of your fingers spread a bit and resting on top of it. The fingers hold the ruler loosely.

You cut approximately at the level of the thumb and middle finger, but no higher than the middle and index fingers of the hand resting on the ruler. Now the hand moves on the ruler, the thumb moves up to the index finger:

Then the remaining fingers of that hand move up a little and hold the ruler at the new height. It is important that you do not move the ruler, but that your fingers hover over the ruler as you move, resting on the ruler at the end of each movement.

Now cut a little more with the rotary cutter, but no more than the height of your middle finger.

Then the thumb moves back up to the index finger....

After that, the rest of your fingers move up a bit again, holding the ruler back at the same height as the fabric. You can read the difference on the ruler's centimeter scale.

Continue in this manner until the fabric is completely cut.

Eventually, the motion will become easy and the process will become natural.

You now have a straight cut. This bottom edge is now your starting point for cutting strips of fabric at the desired height.

The moving hand for right-handers

Here are the photos for right-handers. Since I'm left-handed, I simply mirrored my photos using photo editing software. I hope that the "anatomy" of right-handers will be clear.

In a nutshell, you take the rotary cutter in your right hand and put your left hand on the ruler. You cut the fabric with the ruler in the direction you like. That's probably when you're standing in front of the fabric and the ruler, left to right.

But let's keep it simple, here are the photos:

Cutting a strip of fabric

After you've cut a straight edge, you'll use that edge as the starting point for the strip of fabric.

Place your ruler at the bottom of the edge you just cut. Measure the desired height on the ruler.

Then use your new technique, the wandering hand, to cut the strip from your fabric yardage.

For the cute log cabin heart, we'll use 2.5 cm strips of fabric.

This height includes the seam allowance.

If you want to cut the rectangles from one fabric color, you will need the following measurements in centimeters:

1a: 2.5 x 3.5cm

1b: 2.5 x 2.5cm

2a: 2.5 x 4.5 cm

2b: 2.5 x 3.5cm

3a: 2.5 x 5.5cm

3b: 2.5 x 4.5cm

4a: 2.5 x 6.5cm

4b: 2.5 x 5.5cm

You'll find the measurements for the background fabric, frame and backing in my Log Cabin Heart Quilt tutorial in the next few days.

Now use the strip you just cut to cut out the rectangles and squares you need. Place the patchwork ruler across the strip. Use the bottom edge of the fabric as a guide to place the ruler at right angles to the strip. This will ensure that your rectangles are cut at right angles (i.e., 90 degrees).

First, cut off the selvedge.

Now measure the desired length of the rectangle on the ruler. For example, the piece of fabric 1a is 3.5 cm long. Measure this 3.5cm on the ruler and cut your rectangle from the strip.

Cut out all the rectangles and squares one at a time.

Use the same principle to cut out squares, because a square is nothing more than a rectangle with the same length and width.

Have fun cutting your fabric and sewing your quilt!

Happy quilting!

Chris