Advice on making hemp inserts?

[CawMama]

I am a first time sewer, not sure what the heck I'm doing, but I'm determined. I bought my hemp/cotton fabric, and have made two inserts so far....very rough looking, but I think they will do the job.

Question is this....Is there a way for me to cut out the fabric so that all of the layers that I'm sewing together will come out exactly the same size? That material is so stretchy, I'm having a hard time (really basic explanations would help me out here...I'm clueless).

I have so much respect now for people who can do this. I thought this would be super easy...NOT!

TIA!!!!!

[monkeys4mama]

Carrin,
I use a rotary cutter with a quilting ruler and a rotary cutting mat to cut out my diapers and soaker parts. If you just want to cut out evenly sized rectangular pieces, this is hands-down your best bet. Here are some pics showing the rotary cutter and how to use it to cut a square (obviously you can make a rectangle too...) http://www.sewingweb.com/Projects/RotaryCutting/

I also use my rotary cutter to cut out my diaper body pieces too. In that case you don't use the ruler. You just put your pattern down on top of your fabric (fabric on top of the rotary cutting mat) and cut around the pattern peice with the rotary cutter. I put something on top of the pattern piece so it doesn't move around while I cut. Rotary cutters are super easy and much faster than pinning and cutting w/ scissors or tracing and cutting w/ scissors. I'll never go back to cutting that way again. I rotary cut everything. Hth.

I think if you have the pieces cut accurately, that may help you. If you're having other troubles, please describe the problems and we'll help you work them out. Lots of mamas learn to sew by starting with diaper making.

[love2bmom]

Stretchy fabrics definitely take some getting used to! Just keep trying. You can try using a walking foot if you machine has one. You may also be able to lessen the presser foot pressure. I know you can decrease the presser foot pressure on sergers, not sure about standard machines.
If you are just trying to keep the edges from fraying for an insert that no one will ever see -
Knit (stretchy) fabrics do not fray. So perhaps you can just use a wide, long zigzag stitch to tack the fabrics together. Or just sew them together in a few places (ie: an inch at top & bottom, and 2 inches on each side). Or, just cut the fabric into big rectangles and fold it for the stuffer. Then you don't need to sew it up. Although, with hemp the edges may curl as a single layer. You could try two big rectangles and zigzag them together...
Blah, blah, blah,
HTH!

[CawMama]

Thank you!!!