I absolutely love working with felt and have always enjoyed sewing little soft toys for the kids but don’t really enjoy the hours of cutting small pieces that often follows a felt project, so I was elated when I heard that my Cricut maker could in fact cut my felt pieces for me.
About felt
Felt has to be, for me, one of the easiest and most versatile materials to work with. It is a go to for no-sew crafts and whilst most craft stores will sell you felt squares in approximately A4 size, you can also buy it by the meter from a haberdashery.
For most of my projects, I use felt squares which are available from any craft store.
Tools for the job
If you are new to working with felt on your Cricut maker you will want to ensure that you have the following tools for a successful project.
You will need:
Mats – The pink mat has a strong bond and is used for material. You can also use the green mat for felt. The purple mats can be used for heavy-duty materials.
Wavy blade – The wavy blade adds a curved edge to felt and materials. Great to use if you are wanting to make flowers. The wavy blade is only compatible with the Cricut Maker.
Bonded fabric blade – The bonded fabric blade is used for cutting craft felt or thinner materials that are thin and pliable.
Deep cut blade – A deep cut blade is used for cutting thicker felt or material.
Rotary blade – The rotary blade cuts most fabric quickly and accurately
Spatula – I use a spatula to help lift the material from the mat.
Brayer – A brayer is used to help your fabrics lie flat on the mat.
Fusible interfacing – this is used to bond the fabric before cutting.
Getting started
After you have decided on your project and plotted it on the Design Space App you will need to first use fusible interfacing to attach it to the felt before you start cutting.
(Although you can cut felt without bonding it your Cricut maker will default to a deep cut blade. You can change it to a rotary blade by clicking underneath the blade image. )
To get started cutting load your felt onto a pink cutting mat and smooth over with the Breyer. If you are using a bonding paper you could also use a green or blue mat.
I automatically change the cutting pressure to ” more” to ensure a deeper cut, however, for thin felt this is not necessary.
It’s important to remember that felt fibers are not woven tight enough to cut anything too intricate, so choose more simple designs when choosing a project with felt.
Your blade will cut through both the interfacing and the felt. Once the design has been cut you will want to use your spatula to remove the felt and interfacing from the mat.
Remove the bonding paper or interfacing and you should have a perfectly cut felt project like this Spooktacular T-shirt I made for Hamish
