How to deal with poorly printed fabrics....

So far all of my posts have been to pick brains and this one is no different but I promise, I'll start contributing something other than questions soon!

This question has to deal with what you do when you get a fabric that has been printed crooked?  Like a check pattern where the checks aren't square all the way down it? 

So when your are cutting pieces, they look crooked even if they are square....

So far the only thing that I can come up with is to create some blocks of tissue paper the size I need and eyeball it until I can make the pattern look "straight" and then make my cuts.  Is that the only way to do it? 

Any tips other than buy better fabrics?  (Not always a viable answer when you are located in the middle of WV.)

If they aren't off by too much you can get away with that. It depends on what you are making. If it's a cotton print and you are making children's clothes you can see if your pattern pieces will fit across the grain, usually that minimizes off-grain printing. A casual dress may work cut on the bias. For girls, you can get away with adding a ruffly trim to hide the end that is "off". Better fabric is usually the best way but it's not a sure thing. I have had two designer prints in the last few years that were a bit crooked (two different companies.)

Good luck!