Friday, May 27, 2022

Upstairs/Downstairs - Cutting Segments -

 
 
As promised -
 
Today I pressed one set of strata - 
 
For my Upstairs/Downstairs - Seedlings
 
All nice and neat - 
 
And will try to show you how I run them through my die cutter - 

Getting them as straight as possible - 
 
So as to not get any "wonky" cuts - ;))
 
===
 
First I press the strata as flat as possible - 
 
Pressing the MIDDLE and END strips OUT - 
 
 
Then take them to my "Studio" die cutter - 
 (See NOTE below -)

As you can see - 
I can cut 5 strips at a time with this 2-1/2" strip cutter die -

 
I take the first strata - 
 
SEAMS SHOWING - 
 
And place it as straight as I can on the die - 
 
With the selvedge edge extending just past the "blade" on the right - 



 
Some people use a silver Sharpie to mark the blade lines - 
 
And then they mark horizontal lines across the die - 
 
To help with placement - 
 
But I can see both the blades and the seam lines - 
 
So I just "eye-ball it" - 
 
And it looks pretty straight to me - 

 
So I fold the strata over onto itself at the left edge - 
 
Just past the last blade on the left - 



 
And then back again at the right side -
 
For three "fan-fold" layers - 



 
That leaves some "ends" on the left side -
 
And I don't want those to "snag" as they go through the cutter - 

 
So I "tuck" them in the "ditch" at the side of the tray - 


 
Then I take the second strata - 
 
And do the same thing -
 
Shifting the second strata down a bit - 
So that all of the seams don't wind up on top of each other - 
 
The Studio die cutter can handle up to 10 layers of fabric -
And because of the way I press the strata - and fan-fold it -
I get 9 layers at the "seam" on the first strata -
If I can shift the second strata to only have 3 layers - 
I can get it down to 12 layers total -
Which is pushing it -
But I haven't had any trouble - so far - 
 
Anyway - 
 
First layer of the second strata -


Fold it at the left side -
 
But you can see the bottom layer peeking out -
 
So I had to adjust that to straighten it out - 

 
There - that's better - 

 
Then folded it at the right side - 

 
And "tucked" the ends - 

 
Looks straight to me - 

 
Add the plastic mat - 
 
Being careful not to disturb my "straight" strata - 

 
My "Studio" lives on my dining room table - 
 
Where it is easily accessible - 

 
Crank it all through - 

 
Carefully remove the plastic mat - 

 
Peel off the "ends" on both sides - 

 
Roll up the cut segments - 

 
And they look pretty straight - 

 
If I have one or two "wonky" cuts somehow -
 
I have a couple of "ends" that I could use to replace them -
 
But I try not to do that - 
 
Because I don't have enough to replace a whole block's worth of segments - 


So now - 
 
Take them to the ironing board - 
 
Sort them out - 
 
Sew the tubes -
 
And continue - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

===
NOTE - 

Years ago I splurged and got a "Studio" cutter - 
The heavy duty one - when it was on sale -
Then I got the "conversion kit" - so that it would fold up - 
(Now they have the "Studio 2" - a fold-able one - LOL - )
 
Then I s.l.o.w.l.y. built up my collection of dies - 
 
I made my "wish list" - 
And waited p.a.t.i.e.n.t.l.y. - LOL - 
When they had a 50% off sale -
I would get two for the price of one -
 
The strip cutters are my favorites - 
They are far more versatile - 
Than some of the "one-trick ponies" - ;))
 

2 comments:

Gene Black said...

I have the "Go!" die cutter and a few of those "one trick pony" dies. I quickly learned to only buy dies that are versatile.

Linda Swanekamp said...

I have the Studio cutter, but not that die. I should use it more, but I forget about it.

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