Preparing Fabric

Pre-Washing

Pre-wash your fabric BEFORE cutting out pattern pieces so your finished garment doesn’t shrink! You may not need to pre-wash your fabric for bags, quilts, and objects that will be spot-clean only.
Check whether your fabric has specific care instructions (e.g., wool is usually dry clean only; waxed canvas cannot be washed, dried, or ironed)

If there are no special instructions, wash and dry the fabric however you plan to clean the final garment. If you want to be safe (or you’re making a gift), wash and dry on warm/hot for maximum shrinkage. Otherwise, washing on cool/cold and drying on low (or handwashing and line drying) will lengthen the lifespan of your garment.

To prevent your fabric from unraveling in the wash, you can finish the cut edges (e.g., pinking, zigzag stitch, serging) beforehand. You can also stitch or serge the selvedge edges together to prevent the weave/grainlines from becoming warped or skewed.

Ironing and Pressing

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Ironing is the familiar motion of sliding an iron back and forth over a garment to remove wrinkles. I generally only iron yardages of fabric and finished garments. While sewing, I press instead of iron. Pressing involves placing the iron on a seam with downwards pressure, then lifting the iron up and moving it in a new spot. Pressing instead of ironing prevents stretching and distorting the fabric.

Iron your fabric to remove any wrinkles that might cause cutting errors.

Try to iron in the direction of the grainline so you don’t stretch or warp the fabric.
If the fabric is very wrinkled, try ironing it when it is still a bit damp from washing or mist it with water from a spray bottle.

Use the heat setting appropriate for the fiber content of the fabric.
Iron/press the wrong side of the fabric to avoid creating marks, shiny spots, or discoloration. Place a pressing cloth over your work if you need to iron/press from the right side.
The rule of thumb is to press every seam you sew before moving on to the next step. Pressing helps the stitches settle into the fabric and will result in a cleaner finish.

Laying Out Pattern Pieces

Single vs. Double Layers of Fabric

Many patterns will have you cut your pattern pieces out while your fabric is folded in half (double layer) to automatically mirror right and left pieces.

Match selvage edges, then shift the layers around until the bottom fold hangs straight and isn’t wrinkled or bunched.

If you have slippery fabrics or are trying to precisely match prints, plaids, and stripes, you’ll want to cut your pieces ﬂat on a single layer of fabric.

Be sure to mirror pattern pieces as needed.

You can also do a mix of cutting on the fold and cutting ﬂat to save fabric, such as folding one edge in just to the width you need and not in half).

Pattern Piece Orientation

Avoid placing pattern pieces on the selvages. They are often woven at a different tension than the rest of the fabric and behave differently.
Ensure the top of your pattern pieces are all oriented in the same way for:

directional designs/prints
fabric with a nap (e.g., velvet, corduroy) or an asymmetrical (i.e., not plain woven) weave pattern (e.g., twill). If you cut the pieces out in different directions, light will reflect off the pieces differently and they may appear to be slightly different colors.

Take care when working with printed fabric that the design placement doesn’t fall in unfortunate areas (e.g., a large flower directly over the apex).

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It’s essential to align the grainline markings (the line with arrows on both ends) on your pattern pieces with the appropriate grainline of your fabric. If you cut your pattern pieces at an angle (off grain), the fabric may wrinkle, hang crooked, or twist awkwardly.

Grainline in Woven Fabrics

In woven fabrics, grainline corresponds to how the fabric was manufactured on a loom.
The lengthwise grain (also called the straight grain or just “the grain”) corresponds to the warp threads of a loom. It runs along the length of the fabric, parallel to the selvage edges.

Warp threads run vertically and are held under tension, so the threads are more stable/durable and less prone to stretching out. As a result, there is little, if any, stretch along the lengthwise grain.
In general, the lengthwise grain should work in the same direction as gravity (i.e., aligned down the center body and perpendicular to the ground).

The cross grain corresponds to the weft threads. It runs along the width of the fabric, perpendicular to the selvage edges.

Weft threads are woven over and under the warp threads horizontally and usually form right angles at each thread intersection. The weft wraps around the side of the weaving to start the next row, creating finished side edges (called selvages or selvedges).
You can identify the selvage edge of a fabric by looking for fringe, pin pricks (where it was attached to the loom), or printed text. The selvage edge is perpendicular to where the fabric was cut off the bolt.
In general, the cross grain should be parallel to the ground, so the greatest amount of stretch wraps around the body.
The cross grain has more stretch than the lengthwise grain, but less than bias grain.
You can often get away with orienting your pattern pieces along the cross grain instead of the lengthwise grain if you don’t have enough fabric, but it’s best to be strategic about which pieces you do this for (e.g., pockets or waistbands rather than pant legs) and to try cut mirrored pieces in the same orientation.

The bias grain refers to the diagonal that runs between the lengthwise and cross grains.

If the pattern calls for cutting on the bias, you will position the grainline markings on the pattern piece at a 45 degree angle to the selvage edges.
Cutting along the bias grain provides the greatest amount of stretch in woven fabrics (even in fabrics without elastic fibers). Bias-cut fabric is often used for drapey garments like evening dresses. It is also used to create bias tape/binding, which is relative stretchy and flexible strips of fabric used to finish curved edges.

Diagram by Doina Alexei (2017)

I think it’s useful to visualize a loom when thinking about grainlines. In this example, the white yarn is the warp and corresponds to the lengthwise grain. The periwinkle yarn is the weft and corresponds to the cross grain. The periwinkle yarn wraps around the warp strings on the end, creating a finished edge that corresponds to the selvage edge. Photo By Kaboompics.com.

Grainline in Knit Fabrics

~ coming soon ~

Cutting Fabric

Use weights to hold down your pattern pieces and cut them out with a ruler and rotary cutter on top of a self-healing cutting mat. You can also pin down or trace the pattern pieces onto your fabric, then cut them with scissors, but that method is less precise and takes considerably longer.

Tips for Using a Rotary Cutter

~ coming soon ~

Transfer Marks and Notches

After cutting, transfer any marks or notches on your pattern to your fabric pieces with a fabric marking tool. Be careful not to notch any deeper than the seam allowance.
For marks in the middle of the pattern piece, I like to use an awl to punch a small hole in the pattern piece so I can easily mark the spot on the fabric with a chalk pencil. If I don’t want to add a chalk mark (e.g., the mark needs to be on the right side of the fabric), I like to use tailor’s tacks instead: I’ll use a strand of embroidery floss or double up all-purpose thread in a hand sewing needle and poke it through the fabric, leaving long tails on either side that I can easily remove later on.

Keep In Touch

Thanks very much for reading! If you’d like in-person support and instruction, please sign up for my classes at Modern Domestic or reach out to schedule a private lesson. If you have any questions, feedback, or corrections regarding this post, please don’t hesitate to contact me!