working with vinyl?

[momolo.livejournal.com]

I bought some vinyl from the fabric store this weekend. It doesn't have that wierd furry padding on the back. It also is slightly stretchy. I wanted to cut some 2" wide strips from it, so I traced the back with a ruler and pen, then cut it with a box cutter.
This is my problem: It's coming out less straight than I would like it - it's not all raggedy but you can tell that it's not a total even cut either. Is there a better way I can get more professional, cleaner lines from it?

Also, I've been sewing them together by hand. It looks awful!! Think wired-on-coffee five yo. However, I am sh*t out of luck since I do not own a sewing machine. Hand sewers, do you have any reccomendations for non-crappy hand sewing? What type of thread, etc. I want to do a little decorative embroidery...is regular cotton embroidery thread ok?

Finally, if I do have access to a sewing machine (be kind, neighbors across the street!), is vinyl easy to machine sew?

Thanks!