Fabric ruler with raised edge guide and rotary cutting tool with groove for engaging the edge guides

A hand held rotary cutting tool comprising:

• a handle;
• a frame disposed at least partially within the handle;
• and
• a cutting portion disposed at one end of the handle, the cutting portion comprising
• a rotary blade rotatably mounted on a portion of the frame extending beyond the handle and
• a blade guide comprising a member with a smaller inner portion adjacent the rotary blade and a larger outer portion disposed on the smaller inner portion to form a sidewall facing the rotary blade such that a groove is defined by a gap between sidewall and the rotary blade which corresponds to a guide ridge disposed on a cutting edge of a ruler, such that placing the groove over the guide ridge will place the rotary blade in a position adjacent to the cutting edge of the ruler.

A method of cutting sheet materials, the method comprising:

• marking a desired cut on the sheet materials by placing a cutting edge of a ruler along the desired cut, the ruler comprising a body with a planar section having an upper surface and a lower surface and a guide ridge disposed along the cutting edge comprising an inner sidewall that extends from the upper surface to a ridge top surface and an outer sidewall extending from the ridge top surface to the lower surface;
• and
• placing a hand held rotary cutting tool adjacent the cutting edge of the ruler by placing a groove defined by a rotary blade and a cutting guide of the hand held rotary cutting tool over the guide ridge of the ruler;
• and
• advancing the hand held rotary cutting tool along the ruler such that the guide ridge remains within the groove and the rotary blade remains adjacent the cutting edge.