Fabric. My new addiction.

 

I have been dabbling in the fabric world lately, and pretty much caught the bug. Great!  Now not only am I collecting beautiful paper, I need fabric too.  Here's a great way to use your scraps though.  Fabric flowers.  You can cut them out on the Revolution or Epic and use them as hair accessories, brooches, or home decor.  I used this little arrangement to spruce up the QK croproom.

Then I got to thinking, there must be a way to cut bigger fabric shapes in the Silhouette.  My first attempt was the "Art" board.  I covered a canvas in cute fabric and then cut out the letters for "Art" in vinyl. (You'll want to mirror the image first)  Then, I peeled up the vinyl letters and stuck them to the back of the fabric so I could use it as a stencil and cut around the letters.  The vinyl peels right off the fabric afterward and you can use a fabric glue to hold it in place while you stitch it to your canvas.

   

When I made the "Create" board, though, I actually cut out all the fabric pieces in the Silhouette.  I first applied a ribbon stiffener to the fabric.  When it was dry, I sprayed an adhesive on the back and stuck it to my Silhouette cutting mat.  The fabric was then stiff enough and secure enough to have the blade cut through it.  When I peeled up the flowers, the spray adhesive had dried causing the petals of the flowers to naturally curled up at the edges.  I layered three flowers together and stitched the center to the canvas.  "Create" was cut out in the same way, but I adhered it with a fabric glue.  I love having that splash of color in my croproom.

 

Amy Walton (QK Design Team Coordinator)

Comments

[Taina M]

Cool and really cute too!

[Elizabeth]

I LOVE the flowers! Can't wait to try! Thanks for experimenting...you're inspiring all of us to try new things! :)

[tamara w]

Smart....glad it worked so well to cut with the Silhouette. My mom (quilter) has a stash of fabric that I think I can get my hands on :)

[Tracy]

I have sooooo much fabric. I can't wait to try this. Thanks for the tip!

[Sarah]

wow! I love the fabric idea!! those canvases are beautiful!

[Lisa]

love the canvases. I'll have to give it a try.

[SMS]

Great to hear that you actually CAN cut fabric with the Silhouette, even though previously it's been advised not to! Makes me wonder... is there a certain type of fabric that's "safe" to use versus one that might really cause damage to the machine? I'd love to know so I can try this at home!! Thanks for the great tip!

[K in PA]

Great news! I have been wondering about this for some time. Could you please tell us what settings and blade you used to cut the fabric? Details, please! Thanks!

[Leslie]

Amy, you are a rockstar!! I would have been afraid to try this on my own!!

[Houston]

Amy these are gorgeous!

[Patti Church]

I am so glad to hear the you can cut fabric with this tool. The possibilities are now endless.

Thanks for posting this.

[Amy Walton]

Some details.
Select a higher quality fabric. (thin, but with a fairly dense weave... I'm not a quilter, there are probably great terms for all this). I used some cheaper stuff first and it just frayed. Also when you apply the fabric stiffener, whether it's a spray or a brush-on, make sure you coat the whole thing. I used the pink cap on my silhouette and the same settings I use to cut my thickest cardstock. Although there was no noticeable damage to my tool, I imagine the blade would wear down a little quicker if you're cutting stiff fabric all the time. So far, mine still cuts like a dream, though. Good luck experimenting! Let us know if you figure out any more tricks.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=858800018]

Too cool. I love it. Got me a-thinkin' now!

[ginger owens]

have you tried wonder under? I don't have a silhouette..wanting to purchase one if this works...... cut your fabric in a block form iron on "wonder under" to the fabric. It leaves the fabric stuck to the wonder under. Once that is ironed on the fabric has a paper backing to allow it to be still enough to cut? I don't know. May want to try. The wonder under is a glue type sheet that you can peel off the back of your fabric after you cut and apply .

[healthguard]

Really need an artistic mind when you make designs like this one because as you can see in the photo, its not really that easy to make.

[air yeezy]

Interesting article as for me. It would be great to read a bit more about that topic.

[Gucci Shoes]

Thankyou for a very entertaining and enlightening piece. It definitly opened my eyes to allot of things I had not thought of before.

[Supra Cuban]

Your blog is different from the blogs I've read ever before. I am so excited to read it . And I also want to introduce http://www.supras.cc/supra-skylow-12/ to you .

[Liz Taylor]

Thanks so much for the tip. I'm going to try cutting fabric with mine this weekend.

[Claire @Pootleflumpssewingroom]

Ive been thinking on buying one of these to cut fabric with but Im still scared it wont work!! Has anyone tried it with wonder under yet? Would be amazing if it worked with that.

[decorating fabrics]

What more can I say, they have well out versed all the words to express how great your work was. I just have to agree with them that what you have done really was very awesome. I just can't help but be inspired with your creatively awesome talent. Your works is truly impressive and on the other way around inspiring. Thanks for sharing this very much creative work.

[Timing Pulley Hobs]

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[Laurie Folino]

Love this! I need to start using my Silhouette and put it to some good use. I hand cut all my fabric letters for my super hero shirts.

Laurie
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