Cutting with Tissue

I just learned a wonderful way to cut terribly slippery fabrics, or any fabric you want to control, really- well, honestly, I knew of it before, but had never tried it.

Using wide rolls of tracing paper- available from art or drafting supply stores- place a layer under the fabric, place patterns on grain, stab pin patterns thru fabric to stop shifting, block cut the pieces, then finish cut all pieces with precision. It makes it so easy to control each piece. You can spin them around to clean cut all edges without the fabric going off grain.

It also makes cutting out a previously cut pattern so much easier if you first place a piece of tissue between pattern and fabric so that the new tissue sticks out past the cut edges of the pattern. This allows you to cut on clean tissue, not cut tissue; big difference!

Try it; you’ll love it! I’ve been sewing for over 40 years (Yikes!) and this was as revolutionary as a rotary cutter! There is cost involved in “wasting” the tissue, but the frustration avoided and the preservation of fragile fabrics is well worth the small cost.

This technique came from my pattern-making Professor, Laurel Hoffmann at Drexel University. (Professor Laurel Hoffmann’s Fashion Engineering Certificate Program at the Richard C. Goodwin College of Professional Studies at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.) http://www.laurelhoffmann.com