G'day from Tweed..need a genius..

Hi to all
I am hoping someone can help me design some kind of jig or other alternative to over come my problem.
I am a sewing machinist and have always worked on small sized projects, however I have been asked by a social group to make up various covers.
These covers, in some instances are 4 metres wide by 4 metres wide.
The material I am using is on a 2 metre roll and I have a sysyem set up so that the roll holder is basically much like a toilet roll holder.
My biggest problem is trying to measure and cut straight material of this length. Sometimes I get right to the end, and on my last row of stitching, when I am marrying up all pieces it becomes apparent that I have cut the material out of square.

One of the suggestions so far has been to have a giant L square made up at a steel
workshop etc. I think aluminium would better due to the weight, but then, where could I store something so large.

Surely there is a way to measure and cut the 2 metre lengths straight and square, then after sewing them together, double check that the new 4 metre piece is square.

Can anyone please help, it is doing my head in..

Thanks to all
aussie

Maybe fold the 2 metre length in half making sure the edges are parallel then use a T square?

Tricky little problem but I'm sure someone will come up with an idea. Welcome to the forum.:2tsup:

Thanks for replies so far.
Yes munruben, there are talented people here that's for sure.
Ling, thank you for your input, I also should have mentioned that the material
I am using is plastic coated, therefore folding in half will create an undesirable
crease where there shouldn't be one.
Thanks again look forward to more suggestions
aussie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aussie11

Hi to all
I am hoping someone can help me design some kind of jig or other alternative to over come my problem.
I am a sewing machinist and have always worked on small sized projects, however I have been asked by a social group to make up various covers.
These covers, in some instances are 4 metres wide by 4 metres wide.
The material I am using is on a 2 metre roll and I have a sysyem set up so that the roll holder is basically much like a toilet roll holder.
My biggest problem is trying to measure and cut straight material of this length. Sometimes I get right to the end, and on my last row of stitching, when I am marrying up all pieces it becomes apparent that I have cut the material out of square.

One of the suggestions so far has been to have a giant L square made up at a steel
workshop etc. I think aluminium would better due to the weight, but then, where could I store something so large.

Surely there is a way to measure and cut the 2 metre lengths straight and square, then after sewing them together, double check that the new 4 metre piece is square.

Can anyone please help, it is doing my head in..

Thanks to all
aussie

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After marking out the square check the diagonals from corner to corner and if they measure the same then it must be square. http://woodworking.about.com/od/gett...onalSquare.htm

You can make a large fixed square of any size out of strips of ply or other rigid material by following the Pythagorus rule of 3 4 5. Google it. http://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html

Col
Hoppers crossing
Vic

What kind of seam, and how are you stitching it?

Unless the material is very dear, it might be advantageous to cut the two pieces over-length, stitch together, and make the final cuts on a large layout table with square cutting marks, such marks made according to Col's instruction.

If the material is particularly unwieldy, the sewing machine could be mounted on a trolley, to move against stationary material. I think this is how large tarpaulins are assembled.

Cheers,
Joe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aussie11

My biggest problem is trying to measure and cut straight material of this length. Sometimes I get right to the end, and on my last row of stitching, when I am marrying up all pieces it becomes apparent that I have cut the material out of square.

snip

Surely there is a way to measure and cut the 2 metre lengths straight and square, then after sewing them together, double check that the new 4 metre piece is square.

Can anyone please help, it is doing my head in..

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Pythagorous is your friend

BUT you need a piece of good quality string

a triangle with sides 3 units, 4units and 5 units is always square
(Pythagorous -- which I've probably misspelt -- says 3 x 3 + 4 x 4 = 5 x 5)
so if you take exactly 6m of string and starting at one end make marks at exactly 1.5 and 3.5 metres from the end, when you fold the string into a taut triangle using the marks, the angle between the 1.5 and 2m sides will be exactly 90°.
align the 1.5 m side with the edge of the material and mark your 90° -- the 2m side of the triangle will be your cut line across the material

Welcome to the forum.

Hi Aussie from Tweed. Maybe you could have a system similar to the glad wrap rolls . What I am visualizing is a timber staight edge running the length of the roll and attached either end to the shaft that supports your roll . The fabric would be pulled over this straight edge as it unrolls . I am assuming that the fabric is square on the roll so you could cut it off against the straight edge . I would have drawn a little picture and scanned it to attach to my reply but my scanner was drowned in the storms we had in Melbourne last year . I hope to get a new scanner this week , so if you think this idea is usefull , let me know .

Butcher shops used to have their white paper wrapping paper on rolls with a cut off blade which would be very similar to what I am suggesting

Cheers Peter :)

Hi! Pleased to meet you and welcome to the community! Looking forward to learn and share knowledge with you soon!

From Chipped.
Don't know how much room you have to set this up so, if you already have your roll on a spindle, like a toilet roll. Fix the spindle to the wall, you may need a strong secure type bracket for this. Let the vinyl roll-out downward. If the spindle is level, (set it so, with a level) the edges will hang straight down. set up a level straight edge 2m off the floor, behind the sheet and cut it with a stanley knife along the edge of the straight edge. Some I have seen have two pieces of flat steel, fixe with a very fine gap between them just wide enough for the cutting blade. This should give you a square cut. A frame could be made with secondhand timber with the straight edge fixed to it. You must cut along the edge of the straight edge no on it.
Cheers