Most of us live in a highly connected world that reaches out and reflects the lives of others and ourselves. With tweets and likes, posts and messaging all day long they flood our inboxes and streams. Occasionally they catch our attention through humour or horror or simple human kindness.

So today is my chance to share a post with a human face. I was contacted through LinkedIn by Mehram Saleem from Lahore in Pakistan. He works for  Asmara International Limited, a global fashion company with offices in 8 countries, as a Technical Manager responsible for the areas of quality, cutting, stitching, sampling, shading, auditing, and pattern fitting.

He's trying to find a job in Europe to improve his career opportunities and I promised to share his connection and do what I could to help him on his path.

It's difficult to know where to start really. How do you help someone the other side of the world to get to another continent?

I want to offer not only Mehram...

Here's a simple guide on how to cut fabric. For seasoned students, you'll hopefully have remembered these from college. But for those of you new to the technique these tips will guide you so you cut accurately and efficiently every time avoiding costly mistakes such as wasted time and fabrics.

Here you go then:

1. Always lay your fabric on a table or cutting mat on the floor. A table is best as it's better for your back and comfort. Make sure you can access all sides of the table to reach the fabric.
2. Use and iron if necessary to iron out any wrinkles and creases so your fabric is flat. Make sure you then align the straight and cross grains exactly so they are perpendicular. If your pattern pieces are wrinkled you can use an iron to flatten them too.
3. If your fabric has a directional print or nap (like velvet or corduroy), pay extra attention to how you’re laying out your pattern pieces so every piece is facing the right direction. It all need to match up. The same principle goes...