A free printable to audition, mark and cut on pointe fussy cuts
To Fussy Cut or Not to Fussy Cut ...
Cutting a big hole in the middle of your special fabric requires fortitude and bravery.
See exhibits A and B below.
Particularly note the devastating decapitation involved.
Can you just imagine that baby froggie's face when he looks up again??
And there's nothing worse than putting your big girl britches on and cutting that hole...and then realising it's not quite right.
I'm right there with you...I've cut more than my fair share of squewy fussy cuts.
Waayyy more.
If you identify with the swiss cheese mess that happens to your fabric when you fussy cut, and the head slapping that results from one done wrong, then read on!
On Pointe Fussy Cutting
All of my Easy Cathedral Window designs require a fussy cut 'on pointe'.
As in, a square standing on tippy toes ballet style.
The issue with fussy cutting like this is that a diamond styled square fussy can be a whole different idea when it comes to centering an image.
On top of marking the size correctly, getting the design in the centre can be tricky.
And by centre, I'm talking about the optical centre of the image, which is not always the same as the actual centre.
If you look at the examples above, only the bottom left fussy cut has an actual centre.
All the others have aspects to them that mean you want to display them a little differently.
Should you centre vertically or horizontally? Do you centre the head or the body?
To make things even a level trickier, the folding contrast border covers up some of the fussy cut.
And if you're going to cut out an image leaving behind a big hole, then you do want all the best parts to show in the final design.
So cue the Cathedral Window Fussy Cut Guide, designed especially for making this easier.
Watch the video, then scroll down to see even more info.
4-Steps to Fussy Cutting with Confidence
This Fussy cut guide lets you audition, mark up, then cut out your fussy cut with confidence.
So firstly, download and print the FREE guide by clicking here or on the image above. Here's the steps in a nutshell ...
Check that your printer is set to 'no scaling' and that the scale square measures exactly 1" x 1" square.
- Cut out the outer square, then the centre diamond window and each of the [4] narrow rectangles.
- Place the square onto your fabric and move around until you like the image you're framing inside and you can visually centre the fussy cut.
- Mark the fabric with a fabric marker inside each of the points and rectangles.
- Remove the square, then connect the dots and rectangles with a ruler to form a square. Cut out.
And here you can see these steps expanded with more detail ...
Audition
Once your Fussy cut guide is cut out, find some favourite fabric, and start trying out images, prints and patterns that you'd like to feature.
You'll be able to see exactly how it's going to look in the finished project, whether it will fit, and where to place it.
Can you see how this makes viewing so much easier?
You can move the window around until you're happy with the placement.
The centre won't always be where you originally thought it might be and this is actually harder than it looks to get right.
Mark the Fabric
When you're happy that the image will fit nicely, and you've determined the placement, mark in each of the slots and each of the four points with a fabric pen.
Then join each of the dots and lines together to rule up the on pointe square.
Cut Out With Confidence
Now you can cut out all your cathedral window fussy cuts with confidence knowing they will be the perfect size, and perfectly placed.
I used this guide for all of the fussy cuts in the Baby Cathedral Sachet, and loved how it speeds up the fussy cutting process so much.
Now go forth and fussy cut!
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