Today is a continuation from my previous infographic <3 This one delves into fabric anatomy and properly cutting fabric for your plush projects. There are lots of other guides out there that overlap what I’ve written here, but it never hurts to be doubly sure, especially since fabrics for plushies (like minky and faux fur), create an extra challenge at times. My patterns up until now assumed that readers knew about fabric grain lines and nap, but with this now I can be much more thorough for those of you starting out!
8 thoughts on “Plush Sewing Basics: Fabric Anatomy & Cutting”
Thank you for all the awesome tips and tutorials!! 🙂
Thanks for these great tips!
I know it is semantics. But….I like to think of the “right” side of the fabric as the “outside”, “public” or “seen” side and the “wrong” side as “inside”, “non-public/private”, or “hidden”. I just think of “right” as a “direction” or “correct” and “wrong” as “i messed up”, “error”, or “unacceptable”.
That’s a great way to think of it! 🙂 Unfortunately the whole “right/wrong side” thing is pretty steeped in sewing terminology, so I didn’t want to go against what most textbooks say and cause confusion. Some newer indie patterns like to call it the “pretty” vs. “ugly” side too. It’s all a lot clearer than right vs. wrong, haha!
I also meant to say, you are extremely talented. I can hardly wait to sew my new “Toothless” hoodie. I have been sewing for years, but not with fuzzy fabric. Thanks for the tips. I needed them.
Thanks for this nifty guide! I was wondering, I know your patterns line up fabric pieces along the nap for fleece, but is it important to consider grain for cotton fabrics? My pattern book doesn’t mention grain at all for cotton toys (the only thing it covers), so I’m not sure.
You’re very welcome!
Regarding cotton toys though, it might depend a bit on the project. But I think in most cases the designer would want you to avoid cutting on the bias or else the pattern piece could stretch out of shape.
Cutting vertically down the grain is also useful for going in the direction of the print (if your fabric has an obvious print). In a pinch though I’ll sometimes cut horizontally and vertically if I need to make pieces fit right, and it hasn’t caused any huge issues.
I hope that helps!
It does help! I was thinking what I was doing was small enough and not on the bias, so the stretch didn’t matter all that much, but I wanted to be absolutely sure and you helped with that. So thanks again!