Fussy Cutting: Tips and Techniques

With so many great fabric prints available today, there are multiple ways to either highlight or avoid certain areas of a print. Ashley Hough demonstrates how to use a term known as fussy cutting to do both of those things.

Fussy Cutting Motifs

In general, the term fussy cutting means to be “fussy” or particular in how you cut out a piece of fabric. This technique is most commonly used to highlight a fun design or motif on a piece of fabric as opposed to using a large piece of that fabric. Ashley shows several examples of fabrics with fun motifs and shows how they can be cut out. She explains how this can be done by simply cutting out a square or rectangle around the print or by cutting out directly around the outer edges of a design. She then shows an example of a fun way that a fussy cut motif can be added to a project.

Fussy Cutting Pattern Pieces

Fussy cutting can also be used when cutting out pattern pieces for a garment. Similar to some tips for sewing directional fabric, laying out the pattern piece before cutting is very important. Ashley show several examples of fabric that can be used for this technique and shows where they would be both good and not good to use. Fabric motifs can easily be centered on a pocket pattern piece and used to add extra design to a shirt or jacket. Using the same method, Ashley shows how to lay out pattern pieces and fussy cut them in a way that avoids a fabric motif being in an unflattering area on a garment. Check out more tutorials for more tips on fussy cutting and see how you can start incorporating this fun fabric cutting method into your next project.