Fabric Waste

[Reeree987]

I did a practice block for the mariners compass. No trouble sewing together, but it sure wastes a lot of fabric. Anybody else tried cutting the shapes and then adding a generous amount? So using a triangle shape rather than rectangles? I hate wasting fabric

[Helen W.]

I did a practice block for the mariners compass. No trouble sewing together, but it sure wastes a lot of fabric. Anybody else tried cutting the shapes and then adding a generous amount? So using a triangle shape rather than rectangles? I hate wasting fabric

Reeeree987, Paper piecing is known for wasting fabric. You do need a little extra for wiggle room. Most patterns like to have you cut rectangles and squares and that can end
up a lot of waste, only because it is an easy way to make sure you don't place the piece wrong as can easily happen with paper piecing. I print the pattern unit. Cut out the shapes on the
sewing lines, tape it to apiece of printer paper and cut a 1/2 inch seam allowance around it, instead of the normal 1/4 inch. That gives me the wiggle room I need. I lay that
template on my fabric and use the rotary cutter and ruler to cut it out. It works great and saves lots of fabric. HelenW

[Barbara B.]

I did a practice block for the mariners compass. No trouble sewing together, but it sure wastes a lot of fabric. Anybody else tried cutting the shapes and then adding a generous amount? So using a triangle shape rather than rectangles? I hate wasting fabric

I have said save all the extra fabric, especially the background pieces--there are lots of very small pieces coming up in the second half of the year that will use those bits.

This was posted in Alex Anderson's Classroom, not the 2021 BOM Category--I moved it here.

[Lynn K.]

Good afternoon Barbara. I have a question about cutting strips for background . Can you tell me what width of strip I will need to cut for the Background pieces for,the outer circle of houses. I am one piece short for the small houses background so if we will be cutting strips for the large house backgrounds I thought I will cut the strip I need now to that size. Your system works great... thank you !

[sosallap]

I also sometimes cut out the shapes with a half inch seam allowance. As an example, for the background of the mariners compass, I cut one 6 inch strip WOF. Subcut into 4 x 6 inch rectangles. From each rectangle cut two background triangle pieces (with 1/2 inch seam allowance) one upside down and one rightside up. As an added benefit, when these triangles are sewed in place, the outside edge will be close to straight on grain, instead of bias. I hope this makes sense.

[Beth B.]

I have found that I create less waste if I keep my cut fabric in the WOF strip instead of cutting the strip into little pieces. Then, I work from the strip and trim after I have sewn it to the foundation, when I’m getting ready to add the next piece. It also means I have less things to label and keep organized. You just need to make sure that your WOF is wide enough to accommodate the many ways it could be placed on the foundation... so I check for the longest side needed for the foundation and usually use that measurement for the WOF.