A Quick Tip For Cutting Out Slippery Fabrics

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Despairing this morning when I realised Little Plush had zero leggings that fitted properly (how do they grow sooo fast?!) I decided it would be quicker to sew some up than actually get to the shops. If you’ve not tried sewing leggings – don’t be scared – they are SO easy and are super quick to boot – win win.

The fabric of choice was some viscose spandex. It has 4-way stretch so it perfect for leggings, alas it’s a slippery little sucker on the cutting table so thought I’d try a new tip I picked up at Morley College and figured I’d share it with you as it worked a treat!

[In case you are interested, I used the Love Notions Leggings Pattern, which is on sale and actually FREE at the time of writing.]

This can be used for any fabric which wants to shift around.

• Lay your fabric on top of some Dot & Cross Paper

• Line the fabric edges the best you can with the lines on the paper to ensure the grain line is straight. If you haven’t got any Dot & Cross Paper then just draw yourself 2 lines at 90 degrees to each other that you have a right angle to use to line up your fabric ensuring it’s straight as possible.

• Make sure your fabric is wrinkle free and place your pattern piece on top of the fabric and paper. Weight it down and secure your pattern piece with pins.

• Cut out through all the layers – including the bottom paper.

That’s it! Essentially you have a fabric sandwich, between 2 layers of paper which stabilises your fabric and means it doesn’t wiggle around.

Little Plush loved her leggings declaring they were the softest she’d had – I’ve trained her well!

Do you have any tips to share on how to stop slippery fabrics going their own way? Please share them if you do.

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