Make do with what you have

Christmas is over and another new year is just about ready to begin! I'm sure you are all relaxing and recovering from all the Christmas hustle and all the delicious food that has been served over the last couple of days. Here's a tip that just might come in handy for larger projects!

At times we have large projects that are hard to work with and we may not have all the needed tools. We've all has those moments when we have thought, "If only my table were larger," or "If only I had a longer quilting ruler." Look around your sewing room and see what you can make work for the project you are doing - I bet you can find some items that will do the trick!

Quilting rulers...what would we do without them? They come in many sizes - long, short, wide, narrow, triangular. And what would we do without the helpful measurements in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 inch increments the rulers provide? They are easy to see through to the fabric to aid in cutting strips, blocks and whatever kind of quilt pieces with which you are working!

A couple weeks ago, I had a window treatment project for a business. I needed to make pinch pleated, lined drapes for 2 windows that were four foot high by fourteen feet wide. Needless to say this required yards and yards of fabric which needed to be cut into panels which would be sewn together to create the two pairs of drapes.

After crunching numbers in my head and with my calculator, I finally came up with the length and number of panels I needed to cut from the drapery fabric and lining. What would be the easiest way to cut 32 panels of fabric that were 63 inches long?

Guess what? That length just won't work on a large cutting mat that is only 24" x 36" inches and my 36" ruler, the longest I have and have ever seen created, most certainly won't reach the 63" I needed to cut. And I just wish I had a table large enough to spread out a piece of fabric in that size. But...maybe I can just make the tools I have work for what I need them to do!

I unrolled the 54" wide fabric from the roll on the floor and folded the width of the fabric in half so it is only 27" wide. Thankfully I have a large and long sewing room. The furniture and my sewing equipment lines the wall, but I just happen to have a four foot walking area right down the center of the room - perfect!! The large table area is taken care of!

A cutting mat is a necessity, so my rotary cutter cuts against the mat instead of the carpet. Obviously, the mat cannot be used to measure and cut a length of fabric that is 27" x 68" (24" x 36" mat), but if I turn the mat so the longer side of the mat is perpendicular to the width of the fabric, the mat is long enough to cut across the 27" width. Perfect!!

Now for the ruler...my longest ruler in my stash of many is only 36" long. So I can measure 36", mark it, move my ruler and measure another 44" and then cut the length I need or it can be completed much simpler with packing tape and yardstick. Overlap the yardstick over the ruler, letting it extend 27" beyond the 36" long ruler. Wrap clear packing tape around the yardstick and ruler several times to hold it securely. Now I can simply put the end of the ruler at one end of the fabric and mark the end of the yardstick and it will be the measurement I need!

I made a mark in several places across the fabric width with a water soluble pen. Then turned the ruler 90 degrees and placed the edge against the marked points. I lined up the ruler and used my rotary cutter to cut the panel of fabric. One panel down and only 31 more to go....

If you don't have exactly what you need for a project, make something you have work! This isn't always possible, but usually there are multiple ways to get to the finished project. So look around your sewing room, taking note of the great tools that help so much in your sewing and improvise when needed. There will not be a cutting mat, ruler or tool made in just the exact size and shape you need, but I bet you can come up with something to make it do what you need it to do!

And, yes, the drapes are all cut, stitched, pleated and hanging up where they are supposed to be! My long sewing room floor, large cutting mat and ruler/yardstick did just what I needed them to do!