Happy Tuesday! Are you sick of me yet? Probably. ;) Today I’m back sharing about cutting felt with your ScanNCut or ScanNCut2! I have a lot of people asking about felt, whether I’m at conventions or replying to comments and emails.
When asked if the ScanNCut will cut felt? My answer is always yes.
When asked what type of detail one can get cutting felt with the ScanNCut? My answer is always, it depends.
The word felt covers such a myriad of fibers: wood, bamboo, polyester, rayon, or maybe a blend of all of that. I’m working on a material dictionary for you all, and it will include details about settings, testing, and specific blends and brands of materials. If there is a specific brand of felt you want to see, just let me know!
Today I’ll be sharing how the ScanNCut performs with three different felts: 100% wool, a wool-rayon blend, and a stiff poly craft felt.
A few tips when cutting felt:
- Use a Standard Mat with a Fabric Support Sheet. If you are cutting a lot of felt, consider prepping two mats. When one gets too fuzzy, use a baby wipe to remove debris. While that mat dries, use the other mat to continue cutting.
- I find that almost all felt cuts better when the cut file is run 2-3 times. Running a few times allows the blade to get through the fibers a bit at a time.
- If you are cutting something extremely detailed, consider using Terial Magic. I am obsessed with this product — you’ll see the detail I am able to achieve with fabric in the next few days — as it turns materials with a fiber into almost the feel of paper. Best part? It’s easy to apply and it washes right out! Just be sure to test it first — I tried it on this wool-rayon blend and it worked beautifully. For the snowflakes pictured in this post, I didn’t treat any of the felt.
- Oh! And I always use the standard blade, not the deep cut blade. I find I always get a smoother edge using that Standard Blade.
Stiff Poly Blend Felt
This felt cuts beautifully with the ScanNCut. The fibers are so bonded together it doesn’t warp at all when removing it from the Fabric Support Sheet–nor does it leave many fibers behind.
Settings: blade 7; pressure 5; speed 1. I run the file at least twice.
Wool-Rayon Blend Felt
This felt cuts really well, but you need to be careful when lifting it from the Fabric Support Sheet. Be sure to use your spatula to lift instead of pulling, as the fibers allow for tearing.
Settings: blade 8-9; pressure 5; speed 1. I run this file 2-3 times.
*If you have just a few fibers left to cut through, I often keep the blade depth the same but lower the pressure.
100% Wool Felt
This wool felt isn’t as dense as other wool felts I’ve used. It’s about 2mm thick, and I think the fibers are a bit looser. It still cuts, but I wasn’t able to get as crisp details as I would have liked.
Settings: blade 11; pressure 5; speed 1; I run this file at least 3 times.
Today I’m going to make some felt mistletoe to hang! I’ll be using the felt from this etsy shop!
Today’s comment entry: Give me some felt craft ideas!
I was going to ask about felt! This would make putting together quiet books for little ones a lot easier, and a lot more fun!
Christmas tree ornaments! Baby mobile! A cute accessory to add to Christmas cards!
I’d love to make shapes in different colors to teach my son both shapes and colors. He’s in that stage.
I still LOVE the felt story boards for telling Bible stories and stuff. I would love to make one at home!!!
I want to make my girl and her cousin bird wings and masks for their upcoming birthdays!
I would love to make a felt Christmas tree with ornaments for my toddler to decorate and redecorate so he *might* leave my regular tree alone!
Love the idea from a previous commenter about a felt quiet book with shapes, letters, and colors for my little one.
My dream machine!!
hmmm felt craft idea, mine would be felt doll clothes for my girls :)
Um, heck yeash to cutting FELT! What a dream. I am so very interested in this machine!
omg baby mobile for my second little bundle (who i haven’t even conceived yet but it will happen!)
This looks amazing. I want one so I can make all these pretty ideas!!
I’d like to make a book of shapes out of felt that my son has to match cut outs to!
My mother-in-law makes felt Christmas ornaments! I keep telling her she needs ScanNCut, and stop cutting them by hand :)
I would make cut outs for my daughters 1st birthday in January!