Ever since I got my first rotary cutter I’ve thought it was THE most brilliant invention in sewing. I mean, cutting with scissors is okay, but you have to lift the fabric to fit the blade under and since we all know fabric is fickle, lifting it off the surface can make it hard to cut straight.
If you want *perfect* fabric squares, there’s nothing better than a rotary cutter. No lifting, no fabric distortion, everything comes out perfectly . . . except when it comes to curves. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out a way to cut curves. I tried a little itty bitty rotary cutter,
but it was so tedious and it didn’t always come out right. Plus the blade wasn’t wide enough to use with a ruler. And moving a big ruler around a curve? Very awkward and no fun!
Enter this little baby, my Omnigrid 6″ x 1″ ruler:
It’s perfect for cutting curves – so easy to maneuver. And since there’s no way to do a picture tutorial, I’m trying something new to me – a video!
It takes some practice, and if you get really good, you can forgo drawing on the fabric and just cut around pattern pieces without cutting into them!
As with all my tutorials, this method may not work for you, or maybe you’ve been doing it this way forever. But just in case you haven’t, I wanted to share and hope you enjoy!
CraftApple 
Thank you for posting that video! That will certainly help me, I look forward to practicing that technique this weekend.
Jamie
jamiegates.wordpress.com
Wow, I have always thought it would be nice to figure out how to cut curves with a rotary. The little ruler was just added to my wish-list. It would have been great for the projects I did the last few days (including one of your patterns.)
Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for posting this (just between you & me, I have been using a dinner plate – & not very successfully LOL!).
Blessings
Janelle xx
Hey! You’re brilliant! I have done curves freehand but the cutter nips into the pattern and I don’t always have good control. I’ll remember that technique next time! thx.
Thanks Linda! The video is fantastic, and it’s something I’ve always wondered how to do!
Wow, Thanks for sharing that – it should make life a little easier.
Thank you so much for that video! I can’t wait to try it now.
I’m impressed – to be honest I don’t think I have the manual control you have to keep the ruler in line AND cute all the way through the fabric the first time. I’ll give it a try though – Thanks.
wow… great video!! A video is worth a thousand pictures = }
This is great. Esp for finicky little doll outfits. Thanks!
Ooooh – what a great tip – thanks!
You are a genius. Thank you!
Well done!
Pure genius!
Awesome!!! Thanks.
amazing! And I like the new background too. 🙂
ooo – I have both those items – just never thought to use them together. Thanks!
actually caught you on craftzine and had a little celebrity spotting moment…i was all “wait! i know her!” and then i realized, no, i actually don’t. sometimes webreality taps you on the shoulder at the oddest times….
Fantastic video – thank you for sharing such a great tip.
Wow! Thanks for posting this. I am clumsy with scissors or the rotary cutter, so I do not do well with curves! I will have to try this method soon.
Who is holding the camera? Or did you have a 3rd arm I didn’t know about? Fun little video! Now I want to make a movie!
Thank you! When I stop swooning over this elegant method, I’m going to get me a little ruler so I can do it myself!
Thanks for sharing
OMG that has got to the best idea ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! 🙂
I need to get one of those!! That would make my life so much easier!!!
Very cool. I usually just free hand it, but it is slow and not super accurate. Next time, I’ll try it your way. Thank you for taking the time to make the video!
This is great! I need all the help I can get. I’m off to buy a small ruler!
Very clever!!!!
This tute rocks! I’ve scheduled a link to this post to go live on my blog Thursday morning (Central USA time), Nov. 27. I hope it brings you a few extra clicks.
Denise
http://needlework.craftgossip.com
This is great! I have had one of those little rulers and have been wondering why forever. Now it has a purpose! I’m going to have to try this out soon. Thanks for sharing such a great tip!
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That’s great. I’ve always been a little afraid of cutting curves that way.
FFFFFFANTASTIC!!!
Hey 🙂 did I miss an “I’m going to be away” announcement? Everything okay? Nudge nudge.
Thanks! Didn’t even cross my mind because I didn’t think it was possible. Appreciate the video!!!
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Wow, thanks for sharing your video – I would never have thought to use my rotary cutter for cutting out patterns, I’m going to go buy a small ruler and give it a go!
A friend linked to your blog, and I found this post – absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing. I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind in the future.
Hey, I’m so interested of fashion, wanna try sewing how should I get it started?? Total newbie 🙂
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Thanks for the great demo! Cutting a straight line is hard enough and I never would have been brave enough to try a curve without this.
Excellent! We were talking on the phone about how one might do it. A ruler didnt enter the conversation, Thanks so much,
🙂 What a great idea, i’m going to have to give that a try! I had one of these rulers stuck at the back of my drawer and never even thought of using it.
Phil Hewett
February 9th, 2015 15:28
Why use the ruler…why not just free hand it. It seems there is as much room for the ruler to move and there is to not stay precisely on the curve.
I cut my curves with significant accuracy without the ruler. As you say though “…this method may not work for you…” Thank you for the video, it is very interesting.
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