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Post by susancinpa on Jun 4, 2018 15:53:32 GMT
Has anyone successfully cut felt with dies like thinlits, Lawn Fawn, XCut, etc.?
I read a few blogs online and it seems pretty straight forward, but it's not working for me.
Do I need to buy felt that's treated so it's stiffer than normal sheets of craft felt?
If you've been successful, please share your secrets.
I love the old Prima Devines felt pieces. I thought I'd make something similar from my Tim Holtz dies, but it's not cutting through for the entire piece.
TIA!
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Post by wendifful on Jun 4, 2018 16:53:34 GMT
Yes, I've cut felt with wafer thin dies from Papertrey Ink mostly. The quality of the felt you're using probably has a lot to do with it. I use Papertrey Ink 100% wool felt but I know there are other brands out there that make comparable quality. Jennifer McGuire has some great posts about felt, including this one and this one. She lists sources there. The thin craft felt that you can buy at JoAnn or Michael's is not the same quality so if that's what you're using, that might be why you're having problems. |
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Post by karinec on Jun 4, 2018 20:06:51 GMT
I've found that putting a plain piece of paper on top of the felt helps a lot. So, in order, die, felt then paper.
HTH!
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Post by susancinpa on Jun 4, 2018 20:26:11 GMT
Yes, I've cut felt with wafer thin dies from Papertrey Ink mostly. The quality of the felt you're using probably has a lot to do with it. I use Papertrey Ink 100% wool felt but I know there are other brands out there that make comparable quality. Jennifer McGuire has some great posts about felt, including this one and this one. She lists sources there. The thin craft felt that you can buy at JoAnn or Michael's is not the same quality so if that's what you're using, that might be why you're having problems. I had some from JoAnn's, but also some more expensive that was treated (with sizing maybe?), but neither seemed to be working. I'll check out what Jennifer has posted about in your links, I'm hoping not to have to make any special orders. Thank you! |
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Post by susancinpa on Jun 4, 2018 20:27:50 GMT
I've found that putting a plain piece of paper on top of the felt helps a lot. So, in order, die, felt then paper. HTH! Thanks karinec, I'll try that before I go making any special orders. This never occurred to me and I didn't see it mentioned by any bloggers I was looking up. |
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Post by natlhol on Jun 5, 2018 1:18:32 GMT
The more expensive felt, like from Papertrey Ink and Ellen Hutson, is wool felt. I think the individual sheets from Joann's are acrylic. You can get wool felt from Joann's but you need to buy it by the yard. At least at the Joann's near me.
Amazon also has wool felt, but at least when I was looking at it about 18 months ago, Ellen and PTI were lots cheaper.
I used felt from Ellen and PTI and dies from Lawn Fawn and the combination worked beautifully!
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Post by anniefb on Jun 5, 2018 1:32:39 GMT
I've cut a lot of felt with thin dies. I mostly use PTI wool felt, but the wool/acrylic mix felt I bought from Benzie Design on Etsy also cuts fine. |
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139 
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Post by scrappington on Jun 5, 2018 12:47:17 GMT
I've used felt from the dollar store or Michael's. Used a variety of dies too. I'm find you have to run it thru in various spots on your platform. You still will have to cut a couple of areas I find but mostly it should cut.
Are you using vary intricate dies?
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139
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Post by scrappington on Jun 5, 2018 12:48:02 GMT
I've used felt from the dollar store or Michael's. Used a variety of dies too. I'm find you have to run it thru in various spots on your platform. You still will have to cut a couple of areas I find but mostly it should cut.
Are you using vary intricate dies?
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Post by susancinpa on Jun 5, 2018 13:39:01 GMT
I was trying dies that were solid shapes as I figured the intricate ones wouldn't work too well due to the nature of felt. Some thin parts to the dies, but no inside pieces. I also tried a polaroid frame die.  I wanted to try the paper trick, but didn't get to it last night. Hoping tonight I can steal a few minutes to pop into the computer room and try it out. |
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Post by grammadee on Jun 5, 2018 14:09:11 GMT
I often add a metal shim when cutting something that may need a little extra push to put the cutting edge through.
Haven't cut felt for awhile, but when I have it has been Taylored Expressions wool felt, and that cut nicely.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jun 6, 2018 2:59:10 GMT
You can cut felt with wafer thin dies. The trick is to use wool felt that is at least 30-40% wool. Acrylic felt has too much "give" to cut well with a WT die. The die just sort of squishes the fibers, rather than cut it, since the cutting edge is dull rather than sharp like a steel rule die.
As Natihol said, JoAnn's does sell wool felt by the yard. It's thicker than I usually like to use for paper crafting, but it does cut nicely. I like PTI's felt the best--for it's cutability, color, storage, and it's thinness. Some craft sheets of felt will work, but it's hit or miss. Generally, I find that the stiffer sheets will work ok, but not if you are using an intricate die. You can cut good wool felt with even tiny font dies. Just be careful moving the cut pieces around--they will stretch. If I'm doing a larger piece with a lot of open space in it, I'll stabilize it with a grid of tape until I can get it fastened down on the project.
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