D61: Snip snip!

A nice light and flexible summer top

My efforts today have been at the cutting board.  First I cut some paper square so that I could have a go at the boy's jumpsuit I showed you yesterday.  I know I said I wouldn't do it, and I shouldn't because it'll be far too big for her as it's for a 10 month old boy and she's not yet a 7-m-o girl.  Anyhoo, it is a nice pattern and I thought it would be a good extension of my pattern-making skills, which are very rusty.

It will also be a good warm up for another pattern from that book I will use - the Angel Suit (just the top).  I'm starting with the boy's one because it is much more square and I think that will make it easier to map as a first go.

I also set out to cut the 1:3 pieces for my other bag, and noticed this.

Not aligned...?

Quilting fabric and dress fabric are not presented the same way in stores. Quilting fabric is usually stored on bolts that are flat and rectangular.  The fabric is folded in half along its width, selvedges together, and wrapped around the cardboard.  Dress fabric is sold from long tubes that are as long as the is fabric wide.  A common practice with fabric shop store hands is to snip cottons at the selvedge edge and rip it the rest of the way.  In theory, it'll rip along the grain, nice and straight.  The woman who sold me these did the same with these quilt fabrics.  I must admit I was surprised to see her do it but quickly thought "Why not?"  Now I think that is why these edges don't align.

It's not a huge big deal but it would matter if I'd bought exactly what I needed: a good 10cm would be lost from straightening by cutting.  If it were that important I'd probably wash it and iron it back into shape.  Mind you, it would be tricky as the misshapen part has been stretched and its hard to shrink flat cotton.