cricut -- cutting felt????

[blueyes]

ok -- so all i've ever cut with my cricut is paper or cardstock. do i dare try to cut felt??? any tips or suggestions if yes??!!

[pjw2855]

blueyes.......I would say based on my experience absolutely do not cut felt with any Cricut machine!!!!!!! Felt is too fiberous and will not cut. For that matter, yes, it will stick to your mat, but won't come off without leaving fibers all over the mat which won't come off.

Another thing that won't cut with the Cricut machines is any kind of hand made paper......Mullberry paper for one. There are too many fibers going through that that will get snagged on the blade and bunch up on the mat......won't cut!!

Stick with most any kind of paper of various thicknesses. Experiment (within reason) to see what works best for you. Just be ready to stop your machine if you run into a problem cutting.

Patti

[blueyes]

thanks patti -- i was just checking another board --- they mention using a deep house cutting blade - also to use a lint roller on the mat.

hmmmm - i'm thinking i'll rethink the project. hehe

[pjw2855]

blueyes.....I know people who have tried the felt, but have been disappointed also in the results.

I also don't want the fibers that can come off the felt getting into the workings of my machines.

I really doubt a lint roller would remove the felt fibers from the sticky mat. Lint rollers work great to clean off your mat from paper bits though.

Again, these are my opinions based on personal experience and I know others will disagree.

Patti

[lylacfey]

Felt, flannel, fibrous papers will get caught in your blade housing. So, it's really not worth cutting felt because it can damage your machine in the long run but yes you can cut felt and it does cut beautifully but there is a trick to it. I learned this over at the Cricut Message Board.

Use art felt. The kind of felt that is very stiff and made like heavy paper. You will need the deep housing and deep cut blade. I think you need to do a multi-cut of three if I remember right. The results are beautiful.

Also one of the former big wigs at ProvoCraft used to cut felt using this method with her Cricut. She also used the above cutting recipe.

I do want to add another thing about cutting felt. A lot of mixed media artists stiffen their felt with different type of mediums. I have read that some will run the felt through their Cricut after applying the mediums and letting it dry. Most of the mediums will stiffen felt to a paper like consistency. I do not recommend this method either. I have two Cricut's one for my personal work and one for testing purposes. I ran a normal piece of cardstock after applying a gel medium one time and almost wrecked my test Cricut. She just started acting crazy. The blade did not like that at all. Luckily, my Cricut was not hurt. Now, I cut and then apply my mediums. Don't go the medium route for felt and cutting with Cricut or the other die cut machines.

Interfacing the felt does not work either unless there is an art interfacing that I am not aware of that provides the same texture as the art felt sold in stores.

I think I covered it all. Hope that helps.

[ladybugstamper2]

I was able to cut felt once with my Cricut and don't plan on ever doing it again. It worked, but I wouldn't want to do it again.

I used an older mat, and the felt was old donated felt so it had lot of stringy fibers but not super linty. I taped the felt to my mat using blue painter's tape, so the felt wouldn't move.

I was cutting shapes, like diamonds, hearts, etc. Large shapes around 8 to 10 inches, and nothing was intricately cut like a crown or something with lots of little cuts. I also cut all 26 letters of the alphabet at 6" and used a chunky font on the Mickey Font cartridge.

I did use the multi cut feature and just a regular blade (I didn't have the deep cut blade then).

What I discovered is that the tape held the felt well, without the tape the felt wandered around the mat.

Large chunky simple cuts worked well enough.

Did every piece cut out perfectly? No. There were so many random fibers that sometimes I'd have to cut those fibers with scissors to release the cut piece from the background.

Would I do it again? No Why did I do it in the first place? First it was for a huge mission project and was going overseas to Africa for kids at a school our church was working with. Second, DH promised he'd buy me a new machine if mine broke doing this project. I didn't need a replacement machine.

[blueyes]

hmmm -- very interesting cynthia and dee ann.

glad i asked the question -- doesn't really sound "worth" the effort.

thanks for your help!