lynn7448

I am getting ready to make a king bed runner using a batik fabric. I purchased the 108" wide material 2 yards long. My question is.....how am I every going to cut this much fabric straight. I want to get at least two strips approx 108" by 26". I am afraid to rotary cut, but am not sure how well the batik fabric would rip. Any suggestions from all of you experts out there?
I have folded the fabric selvedge to selvedge and then folded over again, but it is hard with that much fabric. Will that give me the long straight side I need?
Thanks so much for any advise you can share.

TanyaL

Did you try to rip it?

Tartan

It is hard to fold and cut fabrics strips that long. I usually use my chalk pump pencil and my square and draw a line all along the selvage edges the amount (plus the selvage and a little extra) I need. I then pin the two layers together to keep them from moving as I use my scissors to cut along the line. This gets the fabric down to a more manageable size. I then fold the cut off pieces as many times as needed to fit my large mat. Once the fabric is folded, I use my square and ruler to trim off the salvages and cut the strips needed.
I do not think you will have much luck tearing off the border strips with batiks. They are dense and even if you do get them to tear, I think you will still have to trim the ripplely, stretched raw edges again.

ckcowl

batik's tear evenly-and easily-just like most any good quality cotton-
or you could use your long ruler- draw a straight line & cut with scissors-following the line
or- drape some of the fabric behind your cutting table- carefully lining up with your ruler- and cut the length of your ruler at a time- moving up-re-align- cut-move up-re-align...to the end.- or lay out on a long table-or the floor- with cutting mat under fabric= move the mat up as you cut-

lynn7448

No, have not tried to cut or rip it until I heard from the experts on this board.

PaperPrincess

I would rip it.

MTS

So the finished bed runner will be 26x108, right? Maybe less than 108"?
Same material front and back?

I would approach it another way.

I would just hack off (cut or rip) one larger 56"-ish x WOF (108") piece, which doesn't have to be a perfect cut.
The remaining ~ 17" will be more than enough for the binding, if you were planning on using the same fabric.


Take a larger piece of batting than needed, say 30" x 112" (piece it if needed).

Press the fabric in half, insert the batting inside so it's flush with the fold, and quilt as desired.
You can use the spray baste or dabs of elmer's washable glue here and there to keep the batting in place.
If it's encased in the fabric falafel, I doubt it's going to shift much.

It's will be much easier to stabilize and trim a finished quilt than all those pieces of fabric (when the quilted bed runner would have to be trimmed anyway).

It won't be nearly as flimsy.

When trimming up the finished quilt, you can use just your rulers , or draw (chalk, sharpie, or soap) lines and then cut.

If you're really intimidated by the size, get someone to help and snap a chalk line (I did that once back in the day on an early kingsize quilt) where you want to cut.

QuiltnLady1

I would rip the long pieces -- the batiks will rip nice and straight and you won't have to worry about grainlines.

lynn7448

Thanks for all of your advise. I did rip the material and it worked out great!