06/24/2012 12:22 AM
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allorache
Posts: 87
Joined: 01/15/2011
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Has anyone used a Silhouette Cameo to cut felt or other fabric for applique? I just got a Spellbinder Grand Calibur and it works well with felt but I can already see that I could spend hundreds of dollars on dies and still have a pretty limited selection of shapes. This is computerized and from what I can tell can cut pretty much any shape you can design on the computer. And it says it cuts fabric. Would love to hear if anyone has used one, I am getting very tempted...
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06/24/2012 02:16 PM
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oddduck25
Posts: 115
Joined: 01/04/2010
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I would love a cutter too! I'm looking at the Zing. I'd like to know if anyone's used fabric with this one!
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12000, 11000SE v3.0, 1200D, CoverPro 1000CP, DigiPro MBX v4.0
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06/24/2012 04:38 PM
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craftychipmunk
Posts: 114
Joined: 06/18/2008
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I just got one of the Silhouette Cameo's just last week. Have been experimenting with it to cut fabric for applique. (main reason for buying it)
Have found that it works best with a stabilizer on the back of the fabric. I'm using a medium weight Heat and Bond - plastic like stuff (and close to what Silhouette sells for a stabilizer), with the paper backing removed after appling it to the fabric. Leaving the paper on leads to problems when cutting. The blade will pull the fabric from the paper and you won't get a clean cut.
As for it cutting felt, I don't know if it will due to the thickness and the fact felt isn't woven. Remember, You need to stick what ever you are cutting onto the cutting mat. The mat has a permanent sticky surface. I think sticking felt to it would be real messy when trying to peel it off.
Bought it online through Amazon.ca - $299 - Slightly cheaper on the American side of the border.
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MC11000SE
Babylock Imagine serger
Digitizer Pro/MB
Calgary AB
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06/24/2012 09:00 PM
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allorache
Posts: 87
Joined: 01/15/2011
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Thanks crafty
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06/24/2012 09:18 PM
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allorache
Posts: 87
Joined: 01/15/2011
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Oooh apparently it DOES cut felt... http://sewnso.blogspot.com/201...silhouette-cameo.html
now I am severely tempted....BTW sorry to be ignorant but who can tell me if the Heat'n'bond referenced is specific to Cameo or available in general?
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06/24/2012 09:41 PM
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craftychipmunk
Posts: 114
Joined: 06/18/2008
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Heat and bond is the brand name and is sold at most fabric stores. Comes in 3 different weights - light, medium and heavy. Usually kept in the same area the other stabilizers are.
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MC11000SE
Babylock Imagine serger
Digitizer Pro/MB
Calgary AB
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10/11/2012 09:41 AM
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mountaingirl
Posts: 1
Joined: 10/11/2012
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When you were cutting the fabric were you using the fabric cutter blade (usually a separate purchase unless your dealer included it) or the blade for paper, vinyl, etc.?
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Lynn Salmon
Creative DRAWings®
DRAWings PRO®
Janome Artistic Suite®
Bernina Cutwork Software®
Decorative Fiber Arts
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10/12/2012 07:40 AM
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allorache
Posts: 87
Joined: 01/15/2011
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I can't speak for crafty chipmunk, but I eventually wound up getting a Silver Bullet cutter, which is quite a bit more expensive than the Cameo, but so far seems like a great machine. I haven't cut fabric with it, just felt. For the felt I use a 60 degree long-shaft blade; I do not know if there is an equivalent for the silhouette. I do as craftychipmunk suggested -- iron sewable heat'n'bond to the back and remove the paper backing, then stick the side with the heat'n;bond onto the mat. It works great.
I've also used it to cut grids etc from laminate or cardstock for things I don't want to cut by machine (I'm not yet confident enough of where exactly the cut will happen to attempt cutting around something already embroidered, for example) -- that's worked great. Haven't yet had time to explore the other things it will do like vinyl.
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10/12/2012 10:49 PM
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craftychipmunk
Posts: 114
Joined: 06/18/2008
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The only difference between the fabric cutting blade and the regular cutting blade for the Silhouette cutter, is the color of the housing. The fabric cutting blade is in a light blue plastic housing. Other than that, the blades are the same. Read this on the Silhouette web site when they first introduced the "fabric"cutting blade.
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MC11000SE
Babylock Imagine serger
Digitizer Pro/MB
Calgary AB
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10/28/2012 12:15 PM
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ellasnan
Posts: 5
Joined: 07/29/2012
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I have one of the original cricuts and have meaning to try that with fabric. Has anyone else tried?
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Janome 350e, Janome MC4000, Brother Innovis 2000, Singer Touch & Sew 760, Singer featherweight x6,
Brother PE-150, Husky lock serger.
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12/06/2012 09:56 AM
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cgeidenb
Posts: 1
Joined: 12/06/2012
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I recently bought a Silhouette Cameo and planned to use it only for fabric cutting. The company website states that it does not cut felt or other heavy fabrics. But I found the blog with instructions for cutting felt and decided to give it a try. I agree the use of heat and bond or similar stabilizer is critical. If you use the fabric blade on 10, with double cut and deepest cut settings, along with the heat and bond, it does a nice job, but only if you use the cheap acrylic type felt. It would not cut wool felt or felted wool cloth at all ,even with the stabilizer and other settings. A down side to the use of heat and bond is that you usually don't want that additional stiffness under your applique, so disappointingly, I don't think I will be able to do all that I wanted with cutting felt. Plus I work with wool. But it works great on cotton quilting fabric, again only if you use the heat and bond. So far I have only tried it with full backing but am hoping to cut out the interior before bonding so that there's only a ring of stabilizer around the edge, again to avoid the stiffness. I have so far had fun digitizing embroidery applique designs and using the Cameo to cut the applique pieces. All in all I'm glad I bought it and am even inspired to cut paper, something I hadn't previously been all that interested in.
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12/14/2012 10:12 PM
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fizzy53
Posts: 1
Joined: 12/14/2012
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I'm confused. How do you translate an embroidery design to a Cameo cut file??
Thanks, Wendy
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12/20/2012 04:45 PM
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allorache
Posts: 87
Joined: 01/15/2011
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fizzy: I don't know that you can directly. But depending on what software you have for each machine, you can convert a graphic image to either an embroidery file or a cutting file. I haven't done though. I've just cut shapes from felt (derived from jpg images) and then appliqued (sp??) them onto garments.
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01/28/2013 08:46 PM
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nonnasscraps
Posts: 3
Joined: 01/23/2013
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I have a Zing and absolutely love it! I had a Silhouette SD---couldn't cut the fun foam for the grands. Zing does it perfectly! Love that Zing! Will soon be playing with the appliqué vs. the capabilities of the 12000 software. Will keep you informed!
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Jeannie
Sorting the scraps and trying to generate the gems!
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01/28/2013 08:47 PM
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nonnasscraps
Posts: 3
Joined: 01/23/2013
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Actually the fabric blades and the regular blades of machines are not the same---for most machines. The angle of the blade is different. The Silhouette is a very different system.
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Jeannie
Sorting the scraps and trying to generate the gems!
Edited: 01/28/2013 at 08:48 PM by nonnasscraps
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