 Okay, it's fabric cutting time in the sew-along for Butterick 6873. If you haven't already grabbed the workbook, that's what we're going to be using to kind of help us through this process and stay organized. But we are going through the prepping section of the Ultimate Project Checklist. We've already done the Fastic Workbook. We've already made our alterations and today we're going to talk about cutting fabric. Before I get into the video, I do want to share the fabric that I'm using is from Joanne. It is their linen rayon blend. They have this in a few different colors, like this eggplant color. I think they had black, pink, maybe a cream. I can't remember. I don't know what drew me to this orange. I'm not usually like a orange girl, but I don't know, it felt very fallish. I don't know. But I think I'll like it. I mean, what could go wrong? So this is the fabric that I'm using. I really like it because it has an equal amount of drape as well as structure. So it's going to really be able to stand up to all the ruffles that we're doing. And I want to do that big puff sleeve too. So it's also going to be able to stand up to that. And then the cross bodice that it has, it will be sturdy enough to withstand the bias of all of that. So this is the fabric that I'm using. So we're going to be going through the cutting layouts on the pattern instructions. They are a little bit funky, which is why this video is getting its whole separate thing. Normally we just fold the fabric in half with the selvages together and cut mirror images of every piece. That is not the case for this one. There's some kind of, I don't know, Tetris situation happening. So I wanted to kind of call that out, especially for those of you that have never cut garment fabric before, never cut out pieces for a garment before. Just kind of show you how that process works. So over to my cutting table where we can cut our fabric. Alright, so I'm getting ready to work on cutting out my fabric. And I came across an interesting cutting layout that I wanted to share with you guys. It looks like this idea is repeated throughout various layouts. So even if you're not using a 45 inch fabric or you're not these sizes, this might still apply to you. So normally our cutting layouts are one fold and then selvages up here. And that's all you ever see. But on this one, we have selvage at the top and selvage at the bottom to handle all of these pieces. Now remember, I'm doing a little bit of a mix and match situation here. So I'm actually not going to be using number one. Wait, what does that say 1415 and then three and 11 I'm going to save till the end as well to see if I can just do some pattern Tetris. So I'm really just trying to get these four pieces done out of this method. So how do you get your fabric to do this? It's not a single layer of selvages, right? It says double thickness. Alright, so I have pieces one and six right here. They're on top of each other. And then I have seven and 12 that correspond with this. So the idea is that you need to cut your fabric along the cross grain, open out your fabric so that you have the full width of it, selvage to selvage. And at that point, number six will slide down here. Number seven will slide down here. And then you take all of that and move it down here. And that's how you get your double thickness. Okay, so for clarity's sake, what I've done is I have cut a basically a yard of the fabric. That's my cut line down there. Well, one of them is where they cut it at the store. And the other one is where I cut it. Then I opened up the fabric. So I've got a selvedge there and a selvedge there. And then my pieces get laid side by side. I don't quite have enough width of my table. So I'm going to have to cut this and then slide all of this up and then keep cutting from there. So it's interesting. I don't know that I love all of this. I don't know if this was the best layout, but I did try it the regular way and they weren't going to fit. So here we are. Okay, so if you're making the view with the little ruffly, I think it's a ruffle a they get cut on a single layer. So just make note of that. And then it looks like the front one, the right, they're both the front. The right front one is a little bit longer than the left front one. So they get cut out like this. And then everything else got cut out like on the fold like normal. And I do have some pretty significant like chunks. This is my yardage that I have left over this here. Not too bad. I've definitely had worse. And then there's like some just kind of some big pieces. But maybe that's just like the nature of the beast with this one. Can you see all this white space? I guess it's just like funky looking pieces and then these big blocks and it's just, you know, it's hard to get them there without these big things missing. I think I did the best they could. Right. I don't know if they use an algorithm or some kind of like bought to figure out the best way or if this is like a human design. But you can see like the big chunks on every single one. And whether if you're using 45 inch fabric or if you're using 60 inch fabric, I mean, look at this one. That's even worse. So I was able to get everything cut out in the four yards that I got. And I remember my fabric was only like 48 inches wide. So it ended up being pretty narrow linen. But I was able to make this version with this sleeve and I even cut out a sash that I'm going to turn into a belt. So stay tuned for that. All right, there you have it a little bit different, like I said, but totally manageable, right? Depending on the width of your fabric and the size that you are making your pattern cutting layout might be a little bit different. So be sure to pay attention to the cutting layout that applies to you. But if it has any of that weird like selvedge to selvedge double layer situation, you know how to handle that now. Other than that, it's really just about taking a deep breath and just getting after it. The worst thing that can happen is you cut something out wrong and you have to go buy more fabric. Not the best situation in the world, but not the worst situation either. If you're super nervous, obviously just cut it out of muslin out of an old sheet, something like that. And then we'll have the confidence that you need to cut it out of your fashion fabric. At this point, you should also have cut your interfacing and adhered it to the facing pieces as well. And then I always put this in here because it's one of those things that we don't think about until we're like in the zone. And it's like such a drag to do this stuff when you're like ready to sew your first seam. So go ahead, fill two bobbins, change your machine needles, change your serger needles if you're using a serger, thread both of your machines. All right. And for the social media prompt for today, it is to post a picture of your pieces all cut out. Just again, kind of showing a little bit of progress through the sew along and accountability. I know I need a lot of help with that as well. Don't forget to tag me and use the hashtags ITH Sew Along and the pattern number. And then you'll be ready to go for tomorrow's video, which is going to be all about sewing the bodice. Yes, we're going to sew the bodice and the sleeves. And we're going to attach the sleeves as well. So when we are done tomorrow, we will have an entire full bodice. This is a really quick, so very simple, very basic. So we're going to be able to get all of the sewing done in three days. So come back tomorrow after all of your prep work is completed, you should have this entire checklist, the prepping checklist done. Everything should be checked off at this point. So go ahead and get through all of that. I'll meet you back here tomorrow where we're going to start sewing.