How do I cut out fabric accurately?

Accuracy comes from keeping the fabric flat and still, not from a steady hand.

Work on a hard flat surface large enough for the whole piece. Fabric hanging off a table edge stretches under its own weight, and the piece is cut wider at that end than at the other. A dining table or the floor beats a small cutting mat for a long piece.

Shears or rotary cutter. With shears, keep the lower blade on the table and slide it forward rather than lifting between cuts — long strokes give a smooth line, short snips give a jagged one. Never lift the fabric to the scissors. With a rotary cutter, use a sharp blade against a ruler on straight edges and a self-healing mat underneath, and keep your steadying hand well behind the blade.

Cut on the line, not around it. Decide whether you cut inside, on or outside the drawn line and be consistent; the width of a marker line is a millimetre, and a millimetre on every seam adds up.

Weights beat pins for keeping the pattern still, and they do not distort the piece.

Notches outwards, as small triangles beyond the cutting line, rather than snipping inwards into the seam allowance.

Cut single layer for slippery fabric, large prints that need matching, and anything where the two layers will shift. It takes twice as long and it is the only way to get accurate pieces from viscose or satin.

Sharp tools only, kept for fabric alone.