If you don’t have a cutting board and rotary cutter, you can use folding as a way to save time measuring for the Rectangle or Heart-Shaped Fleece Prodded Rug. I fold the material to a specific size and than cut at the fold. When folding, line up each edge of the fabric and measure at each end and in a couple of places in the middle to verify that you have folded it to the correct size. Place your hand on top of the fabric, close to where you are cutting to hold it firmly in place. Holding your scissors sideways, cut along the fold. It’s important as you work through this process to avoid stretching the material.

Lay fabric out on a flat surface. Cut off the unusable material (selvage) on each side of the fabric.

Most of the time, the material will be cut a little crooked, so you will need to trim it to even it up. If you are working with 2 1/4 yards you should have about a 60”X 81” piece of material. If you are working with 2 ½ yards, you should have about 60” X 90”. Measure at each end and several points in the middle. You can use a fabric pencil and a straight edge to draw a line. If you plan to use use pinking sheers for the prodded pieces, use the sheers to cut along the 60” line. Regular scissors can be used to cut the sides. At this point, you won’t be cutting much off the fabric, just straightening out the uneven edges.

Start by cutting and sewing your binding first. Lay your material out on flat surface. Fold the right side of the material to the left to form a 54” X 81” piece if you are working with 2 ¼ yards or 54” X 90 if you are working with 2 ½ yards. Cut the material at the fold.

You should have 2 pieces of material. One will be 54” X 81” or 54” X 90” and the other piece will be about 6” X 81” or 6” X 90”. Material will generally be a little wider than 60” so you may end up with a 6 ½” or 7” – that’s ok. It’s important that the 54” piece is measured as accurately as possible.

Cut your binding from the 6” piece and set the excess material aside.

Cutting strips for prodding:
Pinking sheers can be used for these steps:

If you are working with 2 ½ yards, lay the 54” X 90” piece of fabric out on a flat surface. Fold the top of the fabric towards the center to form a 54” X 81” piece. Cut the fabric at the fold. The result should be one piece of fabric measuring 54” X 81” and one piece measuring 54” X 9”.

At this point the instructions for cutting 2 ¼ yards and 2 ½ yards are the same. Fold the 54”x 81” piece twice to form a 54”x 27” piece. Cut the fabric at the two folds. The result should be three pieces of 54”X 27” fabric.

Take each 54” X 27” piece of fabric and fold the fabric twice to form a 54” X 9” piece. Cut the fabric at each fold. The result should be nine 54” X 9” pieces of fabric if you started with 2 1/4 yards or 10 pieces if you started with 2 ½ yards.

Fold each 9” piece twice to form a 54” X 3” piece and cut at the folds. The result will be 3 strips of 54” x 3” for each 9” piece cut.

Use Regular scissors for these steps:

Fold each side of the 54” X 3” fabric towards the center to form an 18” X 3” piece. Cut at each fold. The result will be 3 pieces of 18” X 3” for each 54” strip cut.

Fold each side of the 18” X 3” fabric towards the center to form a 6” X 3” piece. Cut at each fold. The result will be 3 pieces of 6” X 3” for each 18” strip cut.

Cut each 6” piece in half. The result should be 3” squares of material.

Cut each 3” square in half again, making sure that the pinking sheer end is on the narrow end of each fabric strip. The result for each square will be two 1 ½” X 3” strips of material.

Cut each 1 ½” strip of material into 3 pieces, the result should be three ½” X 3” strips of material.

If you haven’t made any mistakes cutting, you should have more than enough pieces of material, so my suggestion is to cut a few of the 54” X 3” pieces down to .5” X 3” and prod, when you have used them up, cut some more. This will save time by not cutting extra pieces.

If you do make a mistake, that’s not a problem, because the pattern calls for extra material just in case you need it.