Now cut that out!

[Ralph]

I was working on a project this weekend to add length to a nylon nightgown that -- being as how it was made for the models that apparently are all Hobbits -- is much too short to sleep comfortably in. All I had to do was cut a 20" wide strip 40" long from a bolt of matching fabric, standard nylon tricot.

Stupid thing took me four hours, because my eye-hand coordination is almost in the negative values... I can look at two endpoints and visualize exactly how to get from one to the other in a straight line, and when I put my hand to the task it just takes off on its own with no further input from the brain. It's why my handwriting still looks like that of a 3-year-old and there are restraining orders all over town forbidding me from setting foot in any sports venue.

So I'm looking for help to solve two problems:

• How do you stop the edges of thin fabric like nylon from rolling up at the edges? I can't measure from the edge if the stupid edge won't stay flat.
• How do you cut in a straight line when the fabric keeps sliding around under the scissors? I ended up making a kind of tunnel of pins, but even with that the line zigzags back and forth by as much as 1/4" from the path.

[Sinned]

Have you tried stiffening the material by using some gaffer or masking tape not only on the bottom edge but also at the point where you are going to make to cut? It's not just the nylon that can roll up - other light materials can exhibit the same characteristic and I have some knitted skirts made from some t-shirt type material that has a tendency to roll up at the hem and needs ironing down after was before I can wear them. You could also use some bulldog type clips to anchor the material to a small piece of hardboard. Simples.

[Ralph]

That's exactly the kind of advice I needed - simple, inexpensive, and seemingly foolproof. Also painfully obvious now that you point it out to me

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Sinned]

Thanks Rlph, glad to be of help - most good solutions do come into the "bleedin' obvious" category. I come from a family that have very practical skills so have many, many good teachers although in modesty this solution is entirely my own but I accept no blame if it doesn't work!!!!

[MrUtopia]

Another option, which does require some spending, is to use a straight edge and a fabric cutter wheel available from all good haberdashery stores.

But the masking tape idea does sound good and so simple.

Peter