If you don’t have a cutting board and rotary cutter, you can use folding as a way to save time measuring. I fold the material to a specific size and than cut at the fold. When folding, line up each edge of the fabric and measure at each end and in a couple of places in the middle to verify that you have folded it to the correct size. Place your hand on top of the fabric, close to where you are cutting to hold it firmly in place. Holding your scissors sideways, cut along the fold. It’s important as you work through this process to avoid stretching the material.

Remove Selvages:
Lay fabric out on a flat surface. Cut off the unusable material (selvage) on each side of the fabric.

Trim Fabric:
Most of the time, the material will be cut a little crooked, so you will need to trim it to even it up. Measure at each end and several points in the middle. You can use a fabric pencil and a straight edge to draw a line. At this point, you won’t be cutting much off the fabric, just straightening out the uneven edges.

Binding:
Start by cutting and sewing your binding first. Lay your fabric out on flat surface. Measure one inch on the right side of the fabric and cut. Continue cutting 1” strips until you have enough binding.

Cutting strips for prodding:
The instructions below assume that the prodded pieces will be ½” x 3” and the width of your fabric is 54”. If you are cutting pieces to a different length or have a different width of fabric, you’ll need to adjust these instructions so that all of your folds are divisible by the width of your prodded pieces.

Starting at the bottom, fold the bottom of the fabric towards the top of the fabric by 3”. Measure at each end and a few points in between and cut material at the fold.

Measure and fold each end of the 54” X 3” fabric towards the center of the fabric so that your fabric is 18” wide. Cut at each fold. The result will be 3 pieces of 18” X 3”.

Measure and fold each end of the 18” X 3” fabric strips towards the center of the fabric so that your fabric is 6” wide. Cut at each fold. The result will be 3 pieces of 6” X 3”.

Fold the 6” X 3” fabric strips in half and cut. The result will be 2 pieces of 3” X 3”.

Fold the 3” X 3” fabric strips in half and cut. The result will be 2 pieces of 1 1/2” X 3”.

Make two cuts in each of the 1 1/2” X 3“pieces to make the ½” pieces needed.